LatinNews Daily - 20 June 2025

*Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has said that his government will restart dialogue “when appropriate” with Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals (FQM), the owner of Panama’s largest mine Cobre Panamá, which was shuttered in late 2023 following major unrest over a new contract with FQM. In a press conference, Mulino stated that he had been notified that Franco-Nevada Corporation, a Canada-based royalty and streaming company that had maintained an international arbitration case against Panama for US$5bn over the shuttering of the mine, had suspended arbitration proceedings, meaning the government was free to start conversations with FQM. Mulino warned that a final decision regarding the mine was “not forthcoming”, given the complicated nature of the issue. He said a number of aspects needed rethinking and would be re-evaluated “based on the national interest, not on any economic interest or interest of the mine”. He added that the issue would not go before the national assembly, but would rather be decided by “the State exercising its legitimate ownership over that land, natural resources, and the right that we have to exploit it as a country”. While Mulino has stated that a new contract law will not be approved with the mine, he has sparked speculation over the mine’s future after approving a mine maintenance plan and offering concessions to FQM which resulted in it discontinuing its own arbitration proceedings against Panama at the end of March.

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