Panama audit of shuttered First Quantum copper mine flags environmental liabilities

A Panama government-commissioned audit found First Quantum Minerals' Cobre Panama mine broadly compliant, but flagged shortfalls in reforestation and potential future environmental liabilities.

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%, ‌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 5% of Panama's GDP and was its second-largest revenue source after the Panama Canal.

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