2023-12-01 22:23:55
In Panama, a huge Canadian copper mine risks permanent closure, after massive demonstrations across the country. This is an extraordinary situation, according to Mining Watch Canada, but one that risks costing citizens dearly.
Toronto company First Quantum Minerals announced Friday that it had initiated arbitration proceedings to protect its rights to its Cobre Panama mine. Its subsidiary Minera Panamá SA initiated action before the International Court of Arbitration.
First Quantum suspended operations at its mine in Colón province earlier this week after Panama’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday that the 20-year concession agreement covering the copper mine was unconstitutional. President Laurentino Cortizo has promised a transition process towards the closure of the mine.
The agreement, which received final approval on October 20, was the subject of numerous protests, including a blockade by small boats that prevented supplies from the mine.
“There is strong opposition to Canadian mining companies in Panama,” said Viviana Herrera, program coordinator for Latin America at Mining Watch Canada. “People came together, both the unions and the teachers. The country was paralyzed. »
Environmental concerns are at the heart of the demands of this movement. “First Quantum says on all its platforms that its activities are essential to fight climate change, because we need copper in the technologies necessary for the energy transition. But how can we fight climate change by destroying nature and not listening to the communities directly affected? “, asks Ms. Herrera.
She also points out that this industry uses a large quantity of water, even though citizens suffer from a shortage of drinking water.
Ms. Herrera believes that the mobilization and its result are reminiscent of what happened in El Salvador in the case of another Canadian mine, OceanaGold. This other Central American country won in arbitration against the company which demanded $250 million from it, then completely banned metal mines on its territory.
“I know that communities elsewhere in Latin America are following this case closely, to see what they can use in their own struggles, from Argentina to Mexico. There are a lot of them,” said the Mining Watch Canada representative.
The latter, however, fears that First Quantum’s arbitration efforts to obtain compensation will cost the Panamanian government, and therefore, ultimately, the citizens, millions of dollars. “It happens because of the trade mechanisms that exist in the free trade agreement between Canada and Panama,” lamented Ms. Herrera.
The company, which has seven operating mines on several continents, says it is seeking additional details regarding the court ruling and its implications.
The mine was temporarily closed last year when negotiations between the company and the government broke down over payments requested by Panama, but the two sides had reached an agreement by March.
In an analysis published on November 28, financial market analysts at the National Bank of Canada judged that a restart of the Cobre mine was unlikely before the national elections in May 2024. The share price of First Quantum Minerals fell by more than two-thirds during the fall.
With The Canadian Press
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