AUSTRALIA

IGO chair stands by incoming CEO despite Rio Tinto controversy

PUBLISHED: 16 NOV 2023

IGO (ASX:IGO) Chair, Mike Nossal, expressed his support for incoming CEO Ivan Vella after Rio Tinto's recent dismissal of Vella for an alleged breach of confidentiality. Vella, who had spent two decades at Rio Tinto, was scheduled to join IGO in December to replace the late Peter Bradford.

During the annual meeting, Nossal addressed the situation, stating, "I need to acknowledge the news overnight which relates to Ivan’s departure from his previous employer. The Board is engaging with Ivan to more deeply understand the circumstances; however, it is our expectation that Ivan will start with IGO in early December as planned."

Nossal reassured stakeholders that IGO had conducted thorough background checks and due diligence on Vella, all of which reinforced Vella's suitability for the position.

IGO has faced challenges since Peter Bradford's sudden passing, leading to a decline in the company's share price. The company also made a substantial writedown of nearly $1 billion in the value of some nickel mining assets acquired during the Western Areas acquisition.

Nossal emphasised the company's commitment to learning from past mistakes and maximising the value of its assets. Additionally, IGO is addressing technical issues affecting lithium hydroxide production at its Kwinana refinery joint venture with Tianqi Lithium Corp.

Despite the current volatility in the lithium market and an expected 25% decrease in spodumene sales from Greenbushes this year, IGO remains confident in the long-term fundamentals of the lithium market and its strong partnerships with key players like Albemarle

IGO sinks as chair defends incoming CEO pick sacked by Rio

---

16 November 2023

The news: The chair of battery minerals producer IGO has defended his company's selection process after revelations incoming CEO Ivan Vella was sacked from Rio Tinto for allegedly breaching confidentiality. At IGO's AGM, chair Michael Nossal told shareholders the board was working with Vella to "more deeply understand" why he was terminated with immediate effect on Wednesday.

The numbers: IGO shares fell 4.3% by Thursday's close, as the company reaffirmed expectations Vella will head the miner from early December as planned. IGO also noted missing the lower end of production guidance at one of its nickel mines due to a fire at an onsite power plant.

The context: Vella stepped down as Rio Tinto's aluminium business chief executive in June but was set to continue during the transition before his move to IGO. Instead, he was sacked on Wednesday, after an external investigation found he had failed in Rio's "guidance on acceptable management of confidential information," the Australian Financial Review reports.

What they said: "In light of this information, the Board is engaging with Ivan to more deeply understand the circumstances in question and will provide an update to the market in due course, however it is our expectation that Ivan will start with IGO in early December as planned," Nossal told shareholders.

The sources: ASX Announcement, AFR

Rio Tinto fires former head of aluminum division on info breach

Reuters | November 15, 2023 |

Aluminum ingots. Credit: Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto on Wednesday dismissed the former head of its aluminum division Ivan Vella with immediate effect, an email to all employees sent by CEO Jakob Stausholm and seen by Reuters showed.


Vella, who has spent two decades at the mining giant, was already due to leave the company in December, Rio had said in June, to become CEO of Australian battery minerals producer IGO Ltd.

Ivan Vella. Credit: Rio Tinto

He continued to lead the aluminum business until his successor Jerome Pecresse started on Oct. 23. In the weeks to Nov. 15, the contract termination date, Vella was supporting Pecresse in his new role.

“The termination relates to actions that did not follow Rio Tinto’s guidance on acceptable management of confidential information,” the internal communication email said.

Reuters does not know what the confidential information relates to.

Rio Tinto confirmed the content of the email and said it has “not identified that any information has been compromised.”

“The first stage of our external investigation has concluded that Ivan failed to maintain the standards expected of him relating to this topic,” the internal communication email added.

Both Vella and IGO could not immediately be reached for comment.

(By Clara Denina; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

South Africa Poised to Break From Apartheid-Era Cannabis Prohibition

BY ALEXANDER LEKHTMAN 

NOVEMBER 21, 2023



South Africa has taken a big step toward decriminalization, or limited legalization, of cannabis. The country won’t be opening up any dispensaries for people to buy the drug, but adults would be able to grow and use it without fearing arrest or jail. The move would undo criminalization that has its roots in the country’s apartheid era.

South Africa’s National Assembly—the lower chamber of its parliament—passed its Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill on November 14. To become law, it now has to be approved by the upper chamber, the National Council of Provinces.

Parliament is actually required by law to reform cannabis policy, following a 2018 high court decision that found banning use or cultivation to be unconstitutional. The court ordered the legislature to pass decriminalization within two years. If the bill passes, parliament would finally meet its legal obligation, albeit three years late.

Under its terms, adults could possess and grow cannabis, but use would have to happen in private. There is no specific provision for medical use. People could gift cannabis to other adults, but buying or selling the drug would remain illegal. People could also still be charged with crimes for public possession or use, or allowing children to access the drug, with penalties ranging from fines to prison time.

The bill additionally includes expungement of criminal records for cannabis. With past convictions for use or possession, the record would be automatically expunged. People who believe they are eligible could write a petition for expungement, and would receive a certificate of confirmation if it’s granted.

The original version of the bill set limits for personal possession, of 600 grams of cannabis at home or 100 g outside the home; and for home cultivation, of up to four flowering plants, or possession of one plant outside the home.

As Marijuana Moment reported, the assembly’s justice committee removed these possession and cultivation limits from the bill before it passed. But Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola has now been given the task of drafting these limits along with other regulations like child protections, subject to parliamentary approval.

South Africa’s current cannabis law is based on the 1992 Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, which was passed by the white minority-ruled government when the country still upheld its racist apartheid system against the country’s Black majority. That law was an update on the apartheid government’s first anti-drug legislation, which passed in 1971 and included a strict ban on cannabis.


The old drug law remains on the books—leading cannabis advocacy organization Fields of Green for All to describe it as “the last apartheid law.”

Thembisa Waetjen, a history professor at the University of Johannesburg, explains that from the beginning, the apartheid regime’s anti-drug laws were rooted in racism:

To the ruling National Party, the use of drugs by white people appeared to threaten Afrikaner religious culture and the future of a white South Africa. They hyped the drug problem as “a form of terrorism that is more dangerous than the armed terrorism we are familiar with on our country’s borders.”

Punishments were severe, with prison terms of two to 10 years handed down for possession of a single cannabis joint. Waetjen goes on to explain how cannabis enforcement fell disproportionately on Black South Africans, and also how cannabis became practically the single focus of the country’s drug war—with arrests and convictions for cannabis making up over 95 percent of the total for drugs. The promise of substance use treatment as an alternative to incarceration was a farce, with under 1 percent of defendants receiving it—and zero treatment for Black defendants, whose clinics received no support from the apartheid regime.

Apartheid ended in 1994, and the country transitioned to democratic governance. But the old drug law remains on the books—leading cannabis advocacy organization Fields of Green for All to describe it as “the last apartheid law.”

The African National Congress—the anti-apartheid resistance party, political home to legendary activist and first post-apartheid President Nelson Mandela, and ruling party of South Africa for nearly 30 years—has continued the harsh anti-drug policies of its predecessors, adopting “militarized suppression, spraying and incarcerations” against cannabis users, according to Waetjen.

Members of Fields of Green for All were arrested for cannabis in 2010, and ultimately sued the federal government, with the case being heard in 2017. During the same period, Rastafari lawyer Garreth Prince and Dagga Party leader Jeremy Acton also sued over the national cannabis law. Both cases were combined, and in September 2018 South Africa’s Constitutional Court—the highest in the nation—ruled that prohibiting adults from possessing and cultivating cannabis in private was unconstitutional.

As of November 14, the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill had support from the African National Congress and most other political parties, including the official opposition, Democratic Alliance. The right-wing Freedom Front Plus and the African Christian Democratic Party oppose it, but are not big enough to stop it from passing in the upper chamber.



Photograph by flowcomm via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0

Alexander Lekhtman is Filter’s staff writer. He writes about the movement to end the War on Drugs. He grew up in New Jersey and swears it’s actually alright. He’s also a musician hoping to change the world through the power of ledger lines and legislation. Alexander was previously Filter‘s editorial fellow.

Major Crisis at South Africa's Ports

Story by allAfrica.com Washington, DC Cape Town Esther Rose  • 

Delays in container offloading at Durban port, Richards Bay port and Cape Town port is once again highlighting the crisis at Transnet, the state-owned enterprise that oversees rail, ports and pipelines in the country.

Transnet has been at the centre of South Africa's rail and port woes for a number of years.

Since submitting a turnaround plan set for the next two years, costing U.S.$5,2 billion, Transnet is now taking responsibility for not maintaining its equipment at some ports - compromising their lifespan. This has contributed to the massive backlog at ports - with thousands of containers stuck ahead of the festive season where demand for goods spike, IOL reports. Transnet is also citing bad weather as a contributing factor to delays.

There are 70,000 goods containers stuck at Durban port, and there's a 21-day waiting period before offloading can take place. Meanwhile, at Richards Bay port, the failed rail system was blamed for the congestion of heavy trucks on the road leading to the port, Eyewitness News reported the Road Freight Association as saying.

The crisis also hit Cape Town port, where there are delays of up to 14 days to offload cargo from docked ships, leading to shipping giant Maersk moving from Cape Town port to Mauritius. The company said it would offload in Port Louis, then send cargo in smaller shipments to Cape Town.

The situation came to a head earlier this year when the Durban Chamber of Commerce asked Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan for assistance after the offloading of goods at Durban and Richards Bay Ports ground to a halt.

The minister gave Transnet CEO Portia Derby two weeks in which to turn things around at Transnet but instead she resigned, following on the heels of Chief Financial Officer Nonkululeko Dlamini, who left on September 27 after working a month's notice. The CEO of Transnet's freight rail division, Siza Mzimela, also resigned in October this year. Russell Baatjies was appointed as the acting CEO of Transnet's freight rail division.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info

Mental Health in Mining: South Africa Paves the Way

By: Israel Ojoko
22 hours ago



The Minerals Council South Africa is spearheading a targeted campaign to bolster mental health awareness in the mining sector.

This initiative comes in response to the industry’s increasing recognition of the toll that stress, depression, and other mental health conditions exact on mine workers. Long hours, intense labor, harsh environments, and the isolation experienced by many migrant employees have made this sector a hotbed for mental health issues.

Adding fuel to this already volatile situation, societal norms often dissuade men, who make up the majority of the workforce, from openly discussing and addressing their mental health concerns.

Masoyise Health Programme: A Ray of Hope

At the heart of this mental health revolution is the Masoyise Health Programme. Initially designed to address a broad spectrum of health issues, it has recently shifted its focus towards mental health.

The programme’s objective is to ensure industry-wide awareness and access to effective mental health services by 2030. The need for such an initiative has been underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has heightened stress levels among miners due to lockdowns, job insecurity, and the loss of loved ones.

Breaking the Stigma: An Uphill Battle

The Minerals Council hosted its inaugural mental health awareness seminar in October, emphasizing resilience-building strategies to cope with stress, adversity, and trauma inherent in the mining industry.

However, despite the efforts of the council and the mining companies, which have long provided counseling services and access to mental healthcare, mental health awareness still lags behind other health concerns.

One of the most significant hurdles is the stigma associated with admitting mental health issues—a stigma that can only be dismantled through open dialogue and education.

Inspiretek: Aiding Queensland Athletes

In a parallel initiative, Inspiretek has received official backing from the Queensland Government and its Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of young Queensland athletes.

The Inspire Pathways Initiative, a pilot project funded by DTIS, aims to personalize mental health and wellbeing support for these athletes.

The platform offers evidence-based content, education, and support to encourage positive behavioral changes and improve mental health outcomes.

SOCIAL ECOLOGY

How waste from the mining industry has perpetuated apartheid-like policies in South Africa


Visible on aerial maps are vast amounts of hazardous waste from South Africa’s mining industry, a centuries-long enterprise that enabled and encouraged decades of apartheid practices. “The polygons … represent titanic tailings piles, composed of the residues of extraction,” writes Gabrielle Hecht. 

(Image credit: Courtesy Google Maps)

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

Through studying the residues of South Africa’s mining industry – a core infrastructure of the apartheid regime – Stanford historian Gabrielle Hecht shows how its deleterious effects continue.

BY MELISSA DE WITTE


While apartheid – South Africa’s brutal racial segregation laws of the 20th century – officially came to an end in the early 1990s, its harmful effects persist today, says Stanford historian Gabrielle Hecht in her new book, Residual Governance: How South Africa Foretells Planetary Futures (Duke University Press, 2023).

“You can see apartheid from space,” Hecht bluntly states in the book’s opening chapter.

The amount of waste mining generates is immense, almost incomprehensibly so: It takes one ton of discarded rock to produce just one 14-karat gold chain. The massive piles of mining discards – known as tailings – can be seen on satellite imagery.

For the past two decades, Hecht has traveled throughout the Witwatersrand plateau, also known as the Rand, a 100-kilometer expanse where one-third of Earth’s gold has come from.

Amid the tailing piles pulse the activities of most impoverished, Black South Africans and migrants trying to salvage their own lives out of the scraps: Some dangerously go deep into abandoned mine shafts in search of what little gold remains, if any. Others use the toxic leftover debris to make bricks, sold to people tired of waiting on the government’s 30-year-old promise for universal housing, to cobble together their own makeshift shelter.

When Hecht met with one man running one of these operations, he gestured at her colleague and asked, “Does she know that all the quartzite around here is radioactive?”

During South Africa’s winter months, winds blow toxic dust off these tailing piles, sending residues downwind, where – no coincidence – Black residents reside and breathe in these noxious particles. White communities are found upwind – further topographical markings of the racist policies that continue to shape the country today.

This is another reason, Hecht says, apartheid can be seen from space.
Persistent problems

As Hecht shows, the same people apartheid oppressed and profited from bear the costs of the nation’s mining debris: poor, Black South Africans living on the economic margins.

These people continue to live, breathe, and ingest hazardous waste with devastating health consequences, including fatal cancers and genetic defects.

“There is no such thing as ‘out of sight, out of mind,’” said Hecht in an interview with Stanford Report. “Waste does not magically leave the planet. It’s active, not passive. Waste doesn’t just sit there and do nothing. It mutates, it seeps, and does all kinds of horrible things.”

Throughout the book, which is freely available to read through Open Access, Hecht mixes anecdotes and personal stories with historical analysis, data, and other evidence and reports gathered by government agencies and nonprofit organizations to show how waste continues to perpetuate the racial disparities of the apartheid regime. Interspersed are dozens of images, including visual montages by the graphic artist Chaz Maviyane-Davies and sepia photography by Potšišo Phasha, that depict the multitude of issues resulting from the toxic debris the mining industry has left behind.

Each chapter opens with a montage designed by the Zimbabwean visual artist Chaz Maviyane-Davies. “Think of them as visual epigraphs, ways of foreshadowing an aspect of the chapter they precede,” Hecht describes.

 (Image credit: courtesy Chaz Maviyane-Davies)

The massive tailing piles themselves pose problems, as they contain toxic materials such as mercury.

But there are other problems as well. For example, mining is a water-intensive practice, one that has drained the country’s aquifers over decades, leading to water scarcity. What water remains risks becoming toxic, too. As water rises through abandoned mines – there are 6,150 defunct operations in the country – it acidifies and absorbs poisonous heavy metals like arsenic and lead before eventually seeping its way into the local water supply and onto farmland.

Hecht cites one report of a school located 500 meters away from a tailing dam. The school planted a garden to help feed the food-insecure school children, only to discover that the vegetables that their garden yielded were high in arsenic, mercury, and lead.
A system of residual governance

Hecht also features the environmental activists, scientists, community leaders, journalists, urban planners, and artists who are responding to the problem Hecht has conceptualized as “residual governance”: A “deadly trifecta” defined by: “minimalist governance” that “uses simplification, ignorance, and delay as core tactics” and “treats people and places like waste.”

While there are some regulations in place, a system of residual governance makes it difficult to enforce compliance. It also requires expertise that has been weaponized by the mining companies, who use it as a delay tactic, demanding “more research” when it is readily apparent the damage their operations have caused to the local communities.

Tackling a pernicious problem is undoubtedly complex.

Some first steps toward solving them could involve building more water treatment plants and remediating old mines, but as Hecht points out, long-lasting, sustained change also requires structural shifts.

“For those who fight against it, the opposite of residual governance is not a souped-up technocratic machine,” Hecht writes in the book’s conclusion. “It’s the creation and maintenance of systems and infrastructures that not only recognize and respect their full personhood (their voices, their bodies, their aspirations), but that have mechanisms for sustaining that recognition and respect over time.”
The future of mining

While Hecht focuses on South Africa, mining continues across a world moving toward a sustainable future where minerals such as copper, nickel, lithium, and cobalt are essential to a low-carbon and fuel-efficient transition. As a Guggenheim fellow this year, Hecht’s research now focuses on the wastes of extracting materials for green technologies.

Related Story
RESEARCH
Exploring humans’ complicated history with Earth’s mineral riches

With the support of a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Gabrielle Hecht will research and write a new book about the mineral riches humans have turned the world inside out to unearth.

Hecht hopes that the questions residual governance raises will also be included in future discussions about mining. As her historical analysis has shown, extraction also produces sociopolitical problems that all too often exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and racial inequalities.

Hecht also hopes that readers will become more aware as consumers.

“None of us are innocent here,” said Hecht. “This is connected to the rest of the world in these really disturbing ways.”

CANADIAN  MINER

Leonardo DiCaprio calls for global spotlight on Panamamining protests


The American actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio supported on Saturday the fight of Panamanians against the operation of a large copper mine, the epicenter of a national crisis that has cost the lives of four people and is leaving million-dollar losses in the country.

The Hollywood star republished on his Instagram account a publication from the Re: Wild organization, which shows a video titled 'Panama Te Quiero Verde, Shut down the mega-mine', by Duletvindigena and Waguafilms.

"The people of Panama are uniting to defend nature, asking the country's Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional a controversial mining project in the protected Bosque Donoso jungle," indicates Duletvindigena, which defines itself as a "social network where experiences are shared." of the Indigenous Peoples" and Waguafilms that generates "Audiovisual production in indigenous territories of Panama."

The concession area, the organizations continue, "is located in the heart of the largest biological corridor in Mesoamerica," and "mining activity would have destructive impacts on the surrounding ecosystems, species, and people."

"A global spotlight can help Panamanians win a critical victory for biodiversity and can pave the way to a more sustainable future," he adds, and asks to sign "the petition to stop the mining project in Panama on #linkinbio ".

The Panamanian Supreme Court announced that on November 24 the plenary session of nine magistrates will establish a permanent session to rule as soon as possible on two unconstitutionality appeals against the law contract that it renewed, on October 20 for 20 extendable years, the concession to the company Minera Panamá, a subsidiary of the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals.

Minera Panamá operates the Cobre Panamá mine, the largest open pit mine in Central America with an investment of $10 billion, according to the company, and since 2019 it has exported minerals, especially to the Chinese market.

The mining company denies that its operation damages the environment, while the Government of President Laurentino Cortizo assures that the new contract guarantees environmental surveillance and multiplies income to the treasury by 10, with an annual payment of $375 million compared to the previous contract. , which was unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2017.

The express approval of the contract law by Parliament and the Executive provoked the largest public demonstrations in decades in Panama, which were punctuated by vandalism by people identified as infiltrators, while the Police were accused of excessive use of force against the protesters.

The unions and indigenous groups do not support the judicial process and insist that the contract law be repealed by Parliament, which is why they maintain blockades on the roads that have already cost the lives of 4 people and at least $1.7 billion in losses to the economy, according to employers. 

– EFE News agency.

Panama port blockade keeps supplies from First Quantum mine, company says

Reuters | November 17, 2023 | 

Port of Panama. Stock image.

A ship with supplies for Canadian miner First Quantum’s unit in Panama was unable to dock as local boats blocked off access to the key port, the company said in a statement to Reuters on Friday.


Protests have in recent weeks escalated against the miner’s contract for a major copper mine operated by the company’s local unit, known as Minera Panama.


The ship in question has remained for several days in Panamanian waters without being able to reach the Punta Rincon port due to protests, but on Thursday the captain was forced to call the authorities because the ship needed to dock urgently, the company said.

“The illegal actions carried out by small vessels in the port of Punta Rincon have affected the delivery of supplies that are required by Minera Panama, including for energy generation,” the company said.

The company said “the ship fully complies with all international safety regulations and its crew is safe.”

Panama’s National Aeronaval Service (Senan) has identified the ship as the coal-carrying “CSL Tarantau.”

On Thursday, the ship attempted an emergency docking, but the captain aborted the attempt to avoid an accident, Senan said, without providing details on the emergency.

Earlier this week, First Quantum reported that the protests blocking the port had reduced ore processing at its Cobre Panama mine, the first sign that the mine’s output was at risk.

On Thursday, the union for Minera Panama said it reached agreements with the company to ensure worker pay as protests kept some workers from reaching their jobs.

The protests began after the Panamanian government and First Quantum signed a new contract on Oct. 20 for Cobre Panama, which contributes 1% to global copper production and 5% to Panama’s gross domestic product.

The demonstrators say the new terms are too generous to First Quantum and allege corrupt practices in its approval. The company has denied the allegations.

(By Eli Moreno and Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Kylie Madry)

Panama’s supreme court to deliberate on First Quantum mine contract next week

Bloomberg News | November 17, 2023 |

Panama City. Stock image.

Panama’s supreme court magistrates will enter deliberations on Nov. 24 to rule on constitutional challenges to a copper mine contract, the court’s secretary general Manuel Jose Calvo Castillo said in a statement.


Magistrates will consider the first two constitutional challenges to the contract with Canada’s First Quantum Minerals Ltd “in a permanent session, until we issue a ruling in the least amount of time possible,” Calvo Castillo said.

Public arguments for both cases are set to conclude on Nov. 23 and issuing a ruling is a priority for the court, he said.

First Quantum’s local unit Minera Panama said Thursday it paid $567 million in taxes and royalties to the government, covering the period between Dec. 2021 and Oct. 2023. Protests against the mine have continued since its contract was extended in October, and some groups have called for a national strike on Monday.

Anti-mining roadblocks and violent street protests over the past month have caused $1.7 billion in losses to business, the country’s National Council of Private Enterprise said this week.

(By Michael McDonald)

First Quantum, union reach deals on salaries as protests block mine access

Reuters | November 16, 2023 | 

Cobre Panama mine is First Quantum Minerals’ largest copper operation.

 (Image courtesy of Cobre Panama.)

The union for Canadian miner First Quantum’s unit in Panama said on Thursday that it reached an agreement with the company to guarantee salaries as protests and blockades against the miner prevent them from working.


Protests have raged for weeks against First Quantum’s contract for a $10 billion copper mine, with some protests blocking access to the mine.

The blockades “put at risk the daily bread of some 7,000 workers who are also Panamanians who have not been able to return to our posts to make a living in a dignified way,” the union said in a statement.

“We have signed agreements with the company to guarantee salary for the workers,” the statement added.

First Quantum’s local unit, Minera Panama, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

(By Valentine Hilaire and Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Isabel Woodford)

 

Why are people in Panama protesting over 

Canada’s First Quantum Minerals?

Daniel Johnson , BNN Bloomberg

Protests have broken out in the Central American nation of Panama, and a contract with a Canadian company – First Quantum Minerals – is at the centre of the unrest.

Here is a look at how we got here.

WHAT IS FIRST QUANTUM? WHAT IS ITS PRESENCE IN PANAMA?

First Quantum is a Canadian copper company that operates globally, with offices in Toronto and Vancouver. The company says it operates long-life mines in several countries. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. 

First Quantum’s Panama presence includes its newest operation, the Cobre Panama mine, considered its most lucrative asset. The company describes this mine as one of the largest new copper mines opened globally over the past decade, with three billion tons of “proven and probable” copper reserves. Commercial production started in 2019. 

In November 2017, First Quantum increased its ownership interest in the Panamanian company that holds the Cobre Panama concession, Minera Panamá S.A., to 90 per cent. 

WHAT IS THE LATEST ON THE PROTESTS IN PANAMA?

First Quantum reduced operations at its flagship copper mine in Panama on Monday as a result of protests and local opposition, the company said, including a blockade of small boats at its port that impacted delivery of key supplies. 

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Panama in the last three weeks over a government decision to extend First Quantum’s mining license.

Panama’s president, Laurentino Cortizo, changed his position to oppose the project late last month, saying a referendum would be held, Bloomberg News reported.

The proposed referendum, as well as a push for the country’s congress to repeal the contract, have been set aside, and Panama’s government has said it will wait for the country’s Supreme Court rule on whether to end the agreement. Public arguments finish next week for two court cases relating to the Cobre Panama contract and a ruling from the Supreme Court could occur any time after that.

The protests stem from a 20-year extension to First Quantum’s assets. Panama’s government also received a larger share of revenue, according to Bloomberg News.

Environmentalists and student groups began blocking highways in October in opposition to the mining contract extension. The protests have seen clashes with police and the unrest has resulted in rising food prices in the capital city, Panama City, as farms were cut off.

The Associated Press reported last week that two people had died while participating in the third week of protests.

WHY ARE PEOPLE PROTESTING THE MINING CONTRACT?

Demonstrators have demanded the Panamanian government annul its contract that allows First Quantum to continue operation of its open-pit copper mine in a biodiverse jungle area.

Indigenous groups have said the mine threatens the area's delicate ecosystem.

Panama’s government, meanwhile, has said the mine is an important source of employment.

HOW HAS THE COMPANY BEEN AFFECTED?

Since Cortizo changed his posture on First Quantum’s operations in late October, the company has lost over 40 per cent of its value, according to reporting by Bloomberg News.

First Quantum said in a press release Monday that it has reduced operations at its Cobre mine by “ramping down one ore processing train while two remain operational.” 

The company said the disruption was due to an “illegal blockade.”

Investment expert Lyle Stein, president of Forvest Global Wealth Management, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Monday that the situation shows how problems can arise when large amounts of capital are committed to smaller areas.

“Once it's all spent, you really are at the mercy of governments and now the populations that surround the mine. It is a big risk in mining investment, it's a big risk in global investment anywhere,” he said. “Diversification is big and in the case of First Quantum, Cobra Panama is a very big asset relative to its entire operation.”

With files from the Canadian Press, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News

Minera Panamá operations pose severe threat to people, wildlife, and planetary health, group of international and local organizations say

Coalition joins Panamanians across the country in urging Supreme Court to reject Central America’s largest open-pit copper mine

For immediate release, November 17, 2023


Photos (from top left, clockwise): Protests in Panama (photo by @enlayesk507); harpy eagle (photo by Greg Homel, Natural Elements Productions); Donoso Protected Area (photo by TV Indígena and Wagua Films); Gemini’s dart frog (photo by Jaime Culebras, Photo Wildlife Tours).
Download photos and video



Lindsay Renick Mayer
lrenickmayer@rewild.org


Devin Murphy
dmurphy@rewild.org

On November 24, Panama’s Supreme Court will decide the future of an open-pit mine bigger than Manhattan that continues to endanger the rights, health and livelihoods of local communities; threatens an irreplaceable place that is critical for biodiversity and climate; and has been the focus of the historic country-wide protests since mid-October. 

A group of international and local conservation organizations and activists today joins the overwhelming majority of the country in opposing the 50-square-mile (13,000 hectare) copper, gold, silver and molybdenum mine, which is operated by Minera Panamá, a subsidiary of Canadian company First Quantum Minerals. Together the National Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples of Panama (COONAPIP), Audubon de Panamá, ADOPTA Bosque Panamá, Panamá Sostenible, Centro de Incidencia Ambiental (CIAM Panama), Re:wild, the Amphibian Survival Alliance, Synchronicity Earth, WWF, American Bird Conservancy, the IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, and BirdLife International join Panama’s local and Indigenous communities in urging the Supreme Court to follow the law and declare the new contract with Minera Panamá unconstitutional. 

“When all this nature is contaminated, we all die,” said Rengifo Navas Revilla (who goes by Sagla Dummad), secretary of COONAPIP and a leader in Panama’s Guna Indigenous community. “Even the planet itself, even Mother Earth herself, dies. This is the principle that has been instilled in us and that is why we continue to fight. This is why we Indigenous peoples are asking the Supreme Court to declare this law unconstitutional.” 

The Minera Panamá project is located in the province of Colón, in the Donoso Protected Area, which is within the globally important Golfo de los Mosquitos Forests Key Biodiversity Area. Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are sites critical to the global persistence of biodiversity and the health of the planet. The Panamanian government is bound by law to safeguard protected areas like Donoso. Panama’s Congress and President Laurentino Cortizo Cohen recently awarded a new contract to Minera Panamá to continue its operations after a first Supreme Court decision declared the previous contract violated the constitution.

More than 1,000 species of wildlife live in the Donoso Protected Area, many of which are threatened with extinction, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This includes the great green macaw, Baird’s tapir, Central American spider monkey, jaguar, harpy eagle (Panama’s national bird), horned marsupial frog, and the critically endangered Gemini’s dart frog, a species only described in 2014 and whose entire known habitat is in the Donoso Protected Area, near the mining project. Because of this species, the Golfo de los Mosquitos Forests KBA is also recognized as an Alliance for Zero Extinction site, the most irreplaceable subset of Key Biodiversity Areas. A small group of Gemini’s dart frogs were first brought into a conservation breeding program in 2014, but there have been no scientific records of the species since 2018. 

“Unfortunately, after its last assessment in 2018, five years of continual mining operations have taken place so close to the last-known remaining population of this species, therefore, we aren’t sure how many--if any--individuals are left and urgently need to assess the status of the frog in the wild,” said Gina Della Togna, executive director of the Amphibian Survival Alliance. “We call upon all national and international stakeholders to come together to find sustainable solutions that prioritize the protection of the Gemini’s dart frog and this invaluable ecosystem.”

The mine is also located in the heart of the Panama Atlantic Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, which connects wildlife habitat in seven countries of Central America to southern Mexico. Ecological corridors are critical for animals to be able to move to find food, habitat and mates. A road that was built for the mine crosses the corridor, disrupting the connectivity of forests in the region. More than 11.6 square miles (3,000 hectares) of forest have already been destroyed for the construction and operation of the mine. 

“The area to be destroyed by this mining contract is one of the most biodiverse and least-known rainforests in all of Panama,” said Guido Berguido, a Panamanian biologist and executive director of Adopta Bosque Panamá. “Just this year a new species in the Brazilnut family (Eschweilera magnifica) was described from the mine site, and other species of plants and animals are being described as we speak. Our greatest fear is that, with current deforestation and the projected expansion of the mining operation, some wildlife species may go extinct before they are even discovered.”

According to the science-based organization, Science in Panama, open-pit mining can generate both significant air pollution that can cause severe respiratory illnesses in people, and waste rock that contains heavy metals that are washed away and can contaminate nearby waters. When the water polluted with heavy metals is consumed, it can result in neurological damage, cancer and other health challenges. Mines also release 1.4 times more particulate matter into nearby communities compared to non-mining sites. Particulate matter is especially damaging to the immature lungs of children and can result in death. 

The original concession for the mine was granted in 1997 and went through two previous owners before First Quantum Minerals took over in 2013, inheriting the original contract. In 2009, two lawsuits were filed over the constitutionality of the original contract. In 2017, Panama’s Supreme Court ruled that the original concession was unconstitutional in part because it was granted without the proper bidding process in place.

Despite the ruling, the company began exporting copper in 2019. First Quantum negotiated a new contract to continue operations and add an additional 15.4 square miles (4,000 hectares) to the size of the project, which Congress approved and President Cortizo signed into contract-law on Oct. 20, 2023, which is when the protests across the country escalated. 

Now all eyes are on the Supreme Court, which has received nine lawsuits around the constitutionality of the contract. Its decision could quash the contract. The court, which publicly assigned top priority to this case, has said that it will announce its decision about the first cases on Nov. 24, one day after the 10-day period for interested parties to submit comments closes. 

Congress and the president approved the contract-law a little more than one year after Panama’s National Assembly and President Cortizo signed legislation granting nature “the right to exist, persist and regenerate its life cycles.” According to the law, which went into effect earlier this year, Panama’s parliament must consider the impact of its policies on nature. 

“Panama is an example of the growing desire of Mesoamerican peoples to protect biodiversity and develop sustainable economic alternatives that move away from extractive industry and deforestation,” said Esteban Brenes-Mora, Re:wild senior Mesoamerica associate. “The people of Panama see the value of nature and are standing up for their rights and the rights of their wildlife and wildlands. Now we hope the Supreme Court judges will do the same and protect an ecosystem that is critical for people, wildlife and a stable climate.”

Additional quotes

Raisa Banfield, Panamanian environmental activist
"Panama wakes up after 26 years of an inflicted unconstitutional mega-mining contract. Environmental organizations and legal experts have been voicing their concerns and raising awareness about the damages of open-pit metal mining for more than 15 years. The recent government imposition raises concerns, especially among young people and the resistance of our Indigenous brothers and sisters. The calls ‘Panama Worth More Without Mining’ and ‘Panama Is Not For Sale’ have united the Panamanian people to defend our home.”

Rosabel Miró, executive director, Sociedad Audubon de Panamá
“The harpy eagle, our national bird, and the bare-necked umbrellabird, a local altitudinal migrant, are found in the Golfo de los Mosquitos Forests KBA and are huge draws for avitourism. Several other birds in this area, in addition to these two, are listed as vulnerable or endangered species. These forests are also important stopover sites for many migratory birds such as Canada warblers. Mining is not the best use of this land. Developing birding and nature- based tourism, an industry that respects both the environment and the people of Panama, is what we recommend and support.” 

Abel Batista, Panamanian herpetologist who was part of the team that discovered Gemini’s dart frog in 2010
“Gemini’s dart frog is a symbol of the unique value of what we are losing in Panama because of this mine. Our leaders cannot be passive about protecting this species and all of the others that depend on the Panama Atlantic Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.” 

Amaël Borzée, co-chair of the IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, and professor at the Laboratory of Animal Behaviour and Conservation, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University
“Given the extensive evidence of amphibians being the most threatened vertebrates on Earth and their benefits to humanity, it is critical that we safeguard their habitat and that we do everything possible to prevent the extinction of even one additional amphibian species.”

Amy Upgren, director of international programs, American Bird Conservancy
“As a Key Biodiversity Area and Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) site, this globally recognized area is also important for the survival of the great green Macaw, a rapidly declining bird species with a population estimate of a few thousand individuals. We support the efforts of so many Panamanians striving to cancel the mining contract to safeguard the rights, health, and livelihoods of local and Indigenous communities along with the preservation of this significant ecosystem.”

Joana Abrego, legal manager, Centro de Incidencia Ambiental / Environmental Advocacy Center
“It is time for the Supreme Court to not only defend nature and local communities, but also to uphold its place as a counterweight to the Executive and Legislative branches. It is imperative that the rule of law be restored so we can focus on how to face local and global environmental crises, finally implementing not only in word, but in action, the laws that are passed in favor of the environment. Panamanian authorities can no longer remain as green and blue leaders to the international community and as constant defenders of ‘economic growth’ over environmental protection at the national level.”

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Re:wild
Re:wild protects and restores the wild. We have a singular and powerful focus: the wild as the most effective solution to the interconnected climate, biodiversity and human wellbeing crises. Founded by a group of renowned conservation scientists together with Leonardo DiCaprio, Re:wild is a force multiplier that brings together Indigenous peoples, local communities, influential leaders, nongovernmental organizations, governments, companies and the public to protect and rewild at the scale and speed we need. Learn more at rewild.org.

National Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples of Panama (COONAPIP)
The National Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples of Panama (COONAPIP) is an organisation made up of the indigenous peoples of Panama and led by their traditional authorities.

ADOPTA BOSQUE
Asociación Adopta el Bosque Panamá (Adopt a Panama Rainforest) is a Panamanian nonprofit charity organization promoting conservation and sustainable use of Panama´s unique tropical ecosystems for the benefit of both People and Wildlife; through scientific research, environmental education, habitat acquisitions, and community participation. Social Media @AdoptaBosque

American Bird Conservancy
American Bird Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With an emphasis on achieving results and working in partnership, we take on the greatest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on rapid advancements in science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation. Find us on abcbirds.org, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@ABCbirds).

Amphibian Survival Alliance
The Amphibian Survival Alliance (ASA) is a global partnership dedicated to the conservation of amphibians and their habitats. Committed to a future where amphibians thrive in nature, ASA collaborates with a network of partners to develop and implement effective conservation actions. ASA focuses on six key priorities: community engagement and education, organizational excellence and sustainability, strengthening partnerships for greater impact, enhancing conservation outcomes, resource mobilization and fundraising, and policy advocacy and global influence. ASA aims to mitigate and prevent amphibian declines while fostering an informed and active community. For more information, visit amphibians.org.

BirdLife International
BirdLife International is the largest and oldest international alliance for the conservation of birds and their habitats, with 101 years of longevity. It has 120 partners around the planet and 23 in the Americas who work with passion and commitment to protect birds, biodiversity, their habitats, and people. BirdLife is recognized for its leadership in identifying and formulating Important Bird Areas and Key Biodiversity Areas (IBAs and KBAs, respectively). BirdLife's approach allows us to articulate strategic conservation and restoration actions based on science and community development that go beyond borders along the migratory bird routes. It has six regional offices (Quito, Brussels, Amman, Nairobi, Singapore, and Suva) and a global office in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Join the flock and learn more at www.birdlife.org.

Centro de Incidencia Ambiental de Panamá / Environmental Advocacy Center of Panama
Our center was founded in 2007 by Panamanian civil society to address legal actions of public interest, including taking cases to the Supreme Court, in search of environmental justice. We defend the human right to a healthy environment, we focus on strategic litigation, environmental advocacy and promoting citizen participation. 

We provide legal assistance - free of charge - to the most vulnerable communities due to environmental impacts. www.ciampanama.org @ciampanama in social media platforms. 

IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group
The IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group isp is a network of professionals providing the science supporting the conservation of amphibians, locally and globally. Given the threats to the Key Biodiversity Area and Alliance for Zero Extinction site, and the resulting threats to the Critically Endangered Gemini’s dart frog (Andinobates geminisae), the ASG recommend preserving the environment of all threatened species to prevent extinctions and mitigate biodiversity losses.

Sociedad Audubon de Panamá/Panama Audubon Society
Sociedad Audubon de Panamá is a membership-based conservation organization founded in 1968 that promotes active and responsible participation of citizens in the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in Panama. Its mission is to stimulate appreciation for wildlife, with emphasis on birds, by encouraging their observation and study. The tools it uses are environmental education, research, advocacy and community participation For more information visit www.audubonpanama.org, and @audubonpanama on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Sustainable Panama
Sustainable Panama is a foundation created to articulate actors and sustainable actions to counteract bad practices, and thus promote environmental education and communication for the transformation of Panama.

Synchronicity Earth
Synchronicity Earth is a UK-based conservation charity that acts to address overlooked and underfunded conservation challenges for globally threatened species and ecosystems.

WWF
WWF is an independent conservation organisation, with over 30 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. Visit www.panda.org/news for the latest news and media resources and follow us on Twitter @WWF_media.