Panama government to close copper mines accounting for over 1% of global production, following Supreme Court ruling

On the 28th, the Panamanian government announced that a Canadian mining companyannounced that it would close a giant copper mine owned by First Quantum Minerals. Hopes that a new agreement could be reached to keep the company operating have been dashed. This copper mine accounts for over 1% of world production.

Panama’s Supreme Court today ruled that the law authorizing the contract with First Quantum for the mine is unconstitutional.judgmentshowed that. In response, President Cortizo said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that authorities would begin “a transition process for the orderly and safe closure of the mine.”

This would deprive the Panamanian government of one of its biggest sources of revenue, raising the possibility that it will fight First Quantum in an international court of arbitration. President Cortizo did not say how long the process would take.

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Demonstrators celebrate the Supreme Court’s ruling that the law allowing the contract with First Quantum is unconstitutional (Independence Day from Spain on the 28th, Panama City)

Photographer: Walter Hurtado/Bloomberg

In the Toronto market on the 28th, First Quantum’s stock price briefly fell 8.3%, before dropping 8.3% on the London Metal Exchange (The decline was reduced due to the rise in copper prices in LME. Panama’s dollar-denominated bonds fell.

First Quantum declined to comment on President Cortizo’s announcement.

Massive protests erupted after Panamanian Congress approved a new contract with First Quantum last month. Since then, the company has been forced to suspend production.