Maritime Authority ends closure of mining port

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) has ended the suspension of operations of the port of Punta Rincón, through which the company Minera Panamá, a subsidiary of the Canadian First Quantum, exports the copper concentrate that it extracts from the Cobre Panamá mine, in the mountains of Donoso in the province of Colón.

This was confirmed by spokespersons for Minera Panama. The company had communicated that once the suspension was lifted, it would be in a position to resume port operations in a short time.

The AMP decreed the ban on Puerto Rincón on January 26 after informing the company that it had not presented the certifications of the scales installed on the belts that transport the copper concentrate from the port terminal to the ships.

The ban was perceived by the company as a pressure measure implemented by the Government to reach a consensus on the final text of the new concession contract, which finally occurred on Wednesday, March 8.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Federico Alfaro Boyd, had indicated that the AMP was the entity responsible for the operations of the port terminal.

Not being able to ship the copper through Punta Rincón, First Quantum stopped processing operations on February 23, after reaching -according to the company- the maximum storage level, some 10,000 tons of material