LatinNews Daily - 11 December 2023

*Panama’s trade and industry ministry (Mici) has formally ordered the closure of major copper mine Cobre Panamá, which is owned by Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals (FQM) via its subsidiary Minera Panamá (MPSA). This follows a recent supreme court (CSJ) ruling which deemed unconstitutional a law authorising a new contract for the mine. According to a Cobre Panamá statement, Mici sent the mine a formal advisory that it must “end extraction, processing, refining, transportation, export and sales activities” at the mine, as well as instructing it to take measures to secure the facilities and prevent any environmental damage at the site. In the same statement Cobre Panamá said it has requested government authorisation to lay off more than 4,000 of its employees. Last month, the miner suspended the contracts of 7,000 staff at the mine. FQM, which has announced arbitration proceedings against the government following the CSJ’s ruling, has previously said that the mine generates 40,000 jobs, including 7,000 direct jobs.