Panama audit boosts Cobre Panama restart hopes

Staff Writer | June 19, 2026 | 

The Cobre Panama mining complex included two open pits, a processing facility, two power plants and a port. (Image courtesy of Cobre Panama.)

Panama’s environment ministry said a final audit found First Quantum Minerals’ (TSX: FM) suspended Cobre Panama mine complied with most environmental requirements, though deficiencies remain in biodiversity management, ecological restoration and environmental monitoring.

The long-awaited audit, conducted by Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), reviewed the project’s legal, fiscal, environmental and operational performance, including 370 commitments under its Category III Environmental Impact Assessment and environmental management programs. The report found overall compliance approaching 88%, which removes one potential obstacle to a mine restart.

“The findings do not represent insurmountable structural failures, but rather specific points that require monitoring and corrective action,” the ministry said, according to local newspaper La Estrella de Panamá.

“We trust that this report will contribute to a more informed and evidence-based discussion about the next steps, allowing the country to responsibly, transparently, and with full information [decide] on the future of the project,” the company said.

The report could play a key role in determining the future of Cobre Panama. Earlier this month, Panama’s government created an inter-agency task force to evaluate the mine’s legal, economic, technical and environmental implications.

The review is expected to help guide the group’s recommendations and any broader decision on whether to restart one of the world’s largest copper mines.

Source: FQM’s 2025 Tax Transparency and Economic Contributions Report.

The operation produced about 350,000 tonnes of copper in 2022 and accounted for roughly 5% of Panama’s gross domestic product before it was shut down in 2023 when Panama’s Supreme Court ruled that First Quantum Minerals’ contract to operate the giant Cobre Panama mine, the only mining operation was unconstitutional.

Key gaps

The review found the project generally complied with environmental and operational requirements but recommended stronger administrative controls, improved biodiversity management, enhanced ecological restoration efforts and better coordination of environmental monitoring. It also examined environmental risks, cumulative impacts and mitigation measures, alongside infrastructure performance and maintenance standards.

Opposition to a restart remains significant. Dozens of demonstrators marched in Panama City last month, rejecting any effort to reopen the mine and urging President José Raúl Mulino’s government to respect public opposition. The protests revived tensions seen during the mass demonstrations of October and November 2023 that culminated in the mine’s closure.

First Quantum has argued the shutdown has imposed a steep economic cost on Panama. The company estimates the suspension has resulted in about $3.5 billion in lost economic contribution over the past two years, underscoring the financial stakes as the government weighs the project’s future.

 

Panama receives final audit of First Quantum’s Cobre Panama mine

By

Reuters

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Updated: June 19, 2026 

PANAMA CITY -- Panama’s government-commissioned audit of First Quantum Minerals’ Cobre Panama copper mine has found the project broadly compliant with its legal, environmental and operational obligations, but flagged shortfalls in reforestation commitments and identified possible future environmental liabilities, the environment ministry said on Friday.

The audit found there had been issues related to administrative matters, biodiversity, ecological restoration and the coordination of environmental monitoring, despite the mine’s overall compliance rate nearing 88 per cent, the ministry said in a statement, placing the Cobre Panama mine in the “compliant” category but below the “optimized” threshold.

The audit covered the period between 2019 and 2023, the year the mine was shuttered following widespread protests from residents over concerns about its environmental impact and its tax contributions to the Panamanian state.

Now that the audit has been delivered, the government plans to make a decision on the mine’s future “based on data, evidence and technical rigor,” Commerce and Industry Minister Julio Molto told journalists.

First Quantum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The audit identified a range of potential future environmental liabilities, including the stability of the tailings dam, surface and groundwater quality, acid drainage, biodiversity loss and the effectiveness of ecological restoration efforts.

The Cobre Panama mine is one of the world’s largest open-pit copper deposits. Upon its closure, it accounted for approximately five per cent of Panama’s GDP and was its second-largest revenue source after the Panama Canal.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno in Panama City and Iñigo Alexander in Mexico City; Editing by Kylie Madry)