After a community consultation was ordered as a requirement for the resumption of operations of the San Rafael Mine in Guatemala, the authorities invited nine institutions to participate in the first meeting of the pre-consultation roundtable.
Derived from a protective action filed by the environmental organization Calas, the Constitutional Court (CC) ordered in September 2018, to carry out through the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), a community consultation in the area of operations of the mine, in El Escobal, in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, department of Santa Rosa.
In Panama, the Canadian company First Quantum, owner of the copper mine in the province of Colon, sent the first vessel with 31,200 tons of copper.
The Panamanian mine whose construction began in 2013 and demanded about $6.3 billion investment, expects to export 320 thousand tons of copper concentrate per year, announced from the beginning of the year that in June would begin to export its product.
Canada's First Quantum, owner of the copper mine in the province of Colon, Panama, plans to begin exports by the middle of this year.
The Panamanian mine, whose construction began in 2013 and demanded a $6.3 billion investment, expects to export 320,000 tons of copper concentrated per year.
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.
After several days of negotiation, Cobre Panama company has reached an agreement with the construction workers' union, and they will be able to resume construction work on the project.
Protests by workers at the Cobre Panama project in Colón held since the beginning of the yearhave keptwork on the power line and the 300 MW thermoelectric plantparalyzed for almost three months.
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 Ministry of Energy and Mines has requested that the Executive Power authorize the Canadian company Gold Quest a mining license for the Romero project in San Juan de la Maguana.
Seven years is the estimated useful life of the deposit of gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead, whose present value is around $561 million in accordance with the current prices of metals.
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.
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.
Estimates are that there are $200 billion worth of metals in the Panamanian subsoil, with copper predominating.
Although the largest proportion of mining reserves is copper, the four gold deposits identified alone are valued at about $5 billion.
Anpanama.com reports that "... The Panamanian government has granted in concession most of these deposits and their exploitation is currently in different stages, yet none have passed the stage of mining, which is when the material is excavated. At the moment Minera Panama has under construction the Panama Cobre mine which involves an investment of $6 billion.The Cobre Panama mine will be in production in late 2017 or early 2018. Another major project in gold and silver is Petaquilla Gold, which is currently paralyzed due to financial problems. "
The company Minera Panama has made an agreement to resume construction work at the mine after reaching an agreement with workers over working schedules.
After construction stopped in the Cobre Panama mine project on June 27, due to a labor dispute with workers of the project, the company First Quantum Minerals has said it has reached an agreement to resume work.
First Quantum has announced that operations at the mine in Panama have temporarily stopped due to an illegal work strike by the employees involved in the project.
From a press release issued by First Quantum Minerals Ltd.:
"First Quantum Minerals Ltd. ("First Quantum" or "the Company") (TSX: FM) (LSE: FQM) today announced that activity has stopped the in the Cobre Panama project due to an illegal work strike by some members of the workforce.
First Quantum has announced that the copper mine will produce 20% more than originally estimated, but the start of operations will be delayed until 2017.
The delay in the start of operations of the Cobre Panama mine, purchased by the Canadian company First Quantum last year, will mean higher costs.
"The mining company said it signed a bank loan of $2.5 billion over a five-year term to cover part of its capitalization.
With mineral reserves estimated at $200 billion, continued growth is projected for an industry that in 2013 produced $553 million.
Already identified are 50 billion pounds of copper, 12 million ounces of gold, 25,000 ounces of silver and 250 tons of molybdenum, which at current prices amount to $200 billion.
"Of this total, 53% must stay in the country in the form of taxes on income and dividends," said Zorel Morales, Executive Chairman of the Mining Chamber of Panama.
First Quantum is under scrutiny from Moody's because of a conflict the mining company has with bondholders.
The debt ratings for First Quantum, a holding company of Minera Panama, will be revised downwards by the rating agency Moodys, after the company reported in late November a dispute with bondholders over debt in the amount of $2 billion.
The bonds in question were issued by FQM Akubra, a FQM subsidiary which merged with Inmet Mining Corporation ("Inmet") earlier this year, following the completion of a tender offer, made by Inmet FQM.
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