Panama president says not informed of First Quantum suspending mine arbitration

Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino said on Thursday that his government has not been notified yet by Canada’s First Quantum Minerals that the miner has suspended arbitration over its shuttered copper mine in the country.

An internal memo from the company’s local unit, Cobre Panama, last Friday showed the company had instructed its lawyers to start work to suspend arbitration against Panama, referring to cases it filed after the government’s 2023 shutdown of the mine following protests over environmental concerns.

Mulino said the government would not be able to hold talks with First Quantum until the arbitration suspension was finalized, but that he believed the miner was taking the proper legal steps.

“We haven’t been notified of that suspension, but in good faith, I must assume that it’s a process … that takes a reasonable amount of time,” he told a press conference.

“Until we are notified, there will be no formal conversations.”

Mulino added that he will start talks with his team and the country’s mining chamber next week to discuss issues about Cobre Panama.

Shares in First Quantum were trading down 0.6% at 1501 GMT.

(By Elida Moreno and Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Sarah Morland and Frances Kerry)