The Future of the Donoso Copper Mine – Julio Moltó, Minister of Commerce and Industry

Panama City: Julio Moltó, Minister of Commerce and industry, referred to the future of the Donoso copper mine and reiterated that President Mulino of the Republic of Panama maintains this issue as second in his order of priorities.  Julio mentioned that the Minister of the Environment, Juan Carlos Navarro, has already announced that the terms of reference for the environmental audit are ready; likewise, the entity under his charge has the terms ready for the rest of the comprehensive audit.  He explained that the process was carried out with the collaboration of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).  

Now they are asking another institution, whose name was reserved, to be in charge of the contracting, in order to have a comprehensive audit and begin to analyze what happened while the copper extraction process was active.  He stressed that Mulino has been clear in saying that he will not negotiate with anyone, having arbitrations on the table. He clarified that the government has not held meetings with First Quantum Minerals, because they are not authorized to do so.  Moltó also said that he does not see the signing of new contracts on the table. Regarding the Mining Moratorium Law, he said that it is an issue that must be dealt with legally and socially, since the economy that revolved around the area permeated five provinces and far beyond those territories.  He reported that this week the president held talks with suppliers of the mine. 

However, he stressed that there is nothing to discuss after a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the suspension of work for violating 25 articles of the Constitution in a contract signed with the national government in November 2023. The international arbitration between the Panamanian State and First Quantum Minerals was rescheduled until February 2026 following the closure of the Donoso copper mine, according to a statement from the Canadian company.  In a note dated February 11 this year, First Quantum reported that the Panamanian government requested an extension on the filing dates from the International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Panel, “due to the replacement of its external legal team and the need for the new government to assess the situation of the mine.”