In Panama, activities related to mining are expected to increase by more than 10% in 2019, a growth that would be mainly due to copper extraction.
According to the Panamanian government, it is estimated that the economic activity of mining and quarrying will increase over 10% in 2019, as copper exports would exceed $2 billion per year.
Nowadays, the mining sector represents around 1.6% of the GDP, however, with the greater dynamism of the activity this proportion could increase up to 6% or 7%, in a maximum period of two years.
The protests which since the beginning of the year have been held by workers in the Cobre Panama project in Colón have paralyzed work on the power line and the 300 MW thermoelectric plant.
The labor dispute that has prevented the project from progressing arose after both parties, the workers' union and the company Minera Panamá, accused each other of not complying with some points of the agreement made between them in January, with intermediation on the part of the Ministry of Labor.
The Varela administration has extended the concession authorizing Minera Panama to extract copper from the mine at Donoso, in the province of Colón for a further 20 years.
The concession granted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries is for an area of almost 13 thousand hectares, and will be in force until February 28, 2037.
Nine suppliers of goods and services to the mining sector will be visiting Panama from November 21 to 25 to explore business opportunities.
Under the framework of the Mining Congress nine companies will visit Panama to take part in business meetings with mining companies who have operations in the country.
Laestrella.com.pa reports that "...The Chilean companies are: Buza Servicios Integrales, Detecciones geoeléctricas Sealing Check, Jaime Bravo y Compañía, JTS ingenieros, IFC Ingeniería, Sociedad Comercial MCM Industria Minera, Core Mining, Allmarketgroup and Ingeniería de Sistemas en Alta Tecnología S.A. "
From November 23 to 25 Latin American mining companies will be meeting in Panama City to explore business opportunities for the mining industry in Central America.
The Mining Chamber of Panama is organizing, in conjunction with the Latin American Mining Organization (Olami) a Second International Mining Congress, which will focus on challenges and opportunities for mining activities in Central America.
On August 16 and 17 industry representatives from around the globe will be taking part in business conferences and lectures on the role of mineral resources and the impact of the activity on the economy.
The II International Mining Congress is being organized by the Mining Chamber of Nicaragua and will be held on August 16 and 17 in Managua.
The conference will include business conferences, panels and lectures on the economic and social impact of mining on communities; the role of metallic and non-metallic mineral resources in developing countries and environmental challenges in modern mining.
The mining company which is an investor in the Cerro Chorcha project, in Bocas del Toro, has demanded international arbitration against Panama for expropriating the concession in 2010.
Six years after the Panamanian government expropriated the concession belonging to Dominion Minerals Corporation, in Cerro Chorcha in Bocas del Toro, the American company has filed for arbitration, Laestrella.com.pa reported.
Diamante Minerals announced a gold stream agreement for the Molejon Gold Mine, located in the Donoso District, Colon Province of Panama.
From a press release issued by Diamante Minerals:
KELOWNA, BC, Feb. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Diamante Minerals, Inc. (OTCBB: DIMN), a natural resources company, today announced a gold stream agreement for the Molejon Gold Mine, located in the Donoso District, Colon Province of Panama.
In the nineties a village in Costa Rica was populated by dreams of a promising future driven by the exploitation of a gold mine. Today there are only 27 inhabitants, left without hope.
EDITORIAL
An article on Nacion.com reports on the ups and downs of the gold mine project in Crucitas, in Costa Rica, which eventually fell through because environmental forces prevailed over sustainable development, leaving a long series of damages to the country in terms of confidence in the security of investments, tax losses, and mainly in the hopes of human beings who believed in and supported the mine being a catalyst for progress in the area. As usually happens, the only winners were the lawyers who litigated and continue litigating for both sides.
The concessionaire has filed a reconsideration motion to avoid cancellation of the concession, and while it is resolved, the government will take care of the necessary maintenance work.
The review process to be carried out now by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Mici) could take up to two months. Once the process has been completed, it will be decided whether or not to cancel the concession granted to the Canadian company Petaquilla Minerals..
The mining union is complaining about lack of controls on growing illegal mining activities, driven by the need to avoid torturous bureaucratic formalities.
The main problem denounced by formal mining companies is the effect that the illegal activity has on prices, since illegally mined products sell at lower prices, preventing the formal sector from competing on equal terms.
Although the concessionaire Petaquilla Minerals says it is complying with the requirements of the government, the possibility of canceling the concession is being studied.
The 180 day period which the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Mici) awarded in January to the conessionarie Petaquilla Minerals to resolve its financial problems has come to an end, and the government could revoke the concession granted in 1997.
The project consists of the construction, in the province of Colon, of a processing plant and a mine, from which it is expected that 320 thousand tons a year will be extracted from 2018.
In addition to the processing plant and the mine, a subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals, in charge of the work, is building a power 300 MW plant and and a port area, where the concentrate will be filtered and loaded for transport in ships.
As part of the restructuring process to reactivate the operation in the gold mine, Petaquilla Mineras has appointed Arenisca Properties S.A. to manage works at the mine.
The company Arenisca Properties S.A., responsible for reviving the mining operation, "... Is a shared partnership between Petaquilla Minerals and the investment fund Baseline Financial Group.
For non compliance with the deadline to deliver the financial results of 2013-2014 the securities commission of British Columbia, Canada, the trading of the shares by the owner of the Molejón mine in Panama has been suspended.
Despite having announced in September changes in company structure and operation of the Molejón gold mine in Panama, the Canadian company Petaquilla Minerals continues to face financial difficulties.