PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday said First Quantum Minerals should not offer public tours of its shuttered copper mine in the country, because there should be no impression that the site is operating.
He added there had been no discussion with the company or further progress on resolving the issue of the mine, which the government had ordered to close in late 2023 following public protests.
“I don’t want them to give the impression that the mine is operating,” he told a press conference.
“They have to suspend the arbitration, and then we’ll sit down to talk,” he added.
First Quantum said earlier this month it would suspend its arbitration over the mine, after Mulino said the suspension would be necessary in order to discuss the exportation of 120,000 tons of copper concentrate left at the site.
When asked if he would sign a new contract with First Quantum in Panama, Mulino said that possibility could be looked at down the line.
“Everything will be studied, but right now we don’t have anyone to study it with,” he said. “We hope to cross that bridge when we come to it.”
(Reporting by Elida Moreno, Daina Beth Solomon, Natalia Ramos and Juana Casas; Editing by Sarah Morland)
