Panama’s commission recommends that the government negotiate with Canadian mine owner First Quantum Minerals on a limited restart of Cobre Panamá. Earnings from the site would pay for its closure. The proposal follows the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that ended the previous contract, after street protests came before the decision. The mine could reopen only to fund its shutdown—not to expand or win an extension.
Three ministers delivered the report to President José Raúl Mulino on 30 September 2026 at the presidential palace in Panama City. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI) posted all 35 pages online. Its 17 recommendations establish six criteria for any agreement, but the report approves no contract or payment and sets no date for future activity at the site.
Who Sets the Terms
The commission says the mine’s footprint must not grow and must shrink in stages. Any agreement should set a fixed final-closure date, along with dated milestones for each part of the site. Officials must identify, cost and pay for irreversible damage. The report also rules out a concession or a contract like the one the Supreme Court struck down. Law 407 of 2023 bars new mining concessions in Panama.
A share of state income from the site would flow automatically into an environmental fund managed by the Environment Ministry. A published legal opinion must also show that the agreement avoids the flaws the court identified. Those conditions set limits on the proposed deal; they don't remove the power the state and the mining company hold as they negotiate its terms.
First Quantum and the project’s financial partners filed international arbitration cases after the November 2023 ruling. Their claims total at least US$27 billion at minimum amounts, about 30% of Panama’s GDP, according to calculations by En Segundos. Panama hasn’t accepted the claims as a debt and says it will defend itself. The report makes ending every case a mandatory condition of any agreement.
In an announcement dated 31 March 2025, First Quantum said it had withdrawn one case at the International Chamber of Commerce and suspended another under the Canada-Panama free trade agreement. No tribunal has ruled on the merits of the claims. The company says it will engage “constructively and in good faith” toward a legal framework aligned with Panama’s constitution, and is waiting for guidance from the government.
Who Pays for Closure
Without a deal, the report estimates total costs of US$2.6 billion to US$3.4 billion, equal to as much as 9.7% of Panama’s 2026 state budget. MICI put closure costs at US$800 million to US$1 billion in March 2024. The tailings dam, which holds mining waste, has 164 instruments under constant monitoring.
“The site pays for its own closure, or there is no deal,” Economy and Finance Minister Felipe Chapman said. That condition puts the mine’s finances at the center of the proposed arrangement. The report also counts the shutdown’s economic toll: more than 6,000 direct jobs and about 30,000 indirect jobs were lost, according to the report.
The current phase processes ore extracted before the shutdown and has created 2,300 direct jobs. The site, not taxpayers, pays for that work. Exports of 121,000 tonnes of stored copper concentrate brought the state US$30 million in royalties. Each day without a decision costs Panama an average of US$6.85 million in export earnings and about US$1.28 million in tax revenue, the report says.
Communities in the Bargain
The commission calls for an immediate programme providing water, sanitation, health and electricity to nearby communities in Donoso, the district in Colón province where the mine sits. The report identifies those services as issues to address as government officials and the corporate owner negotiate the mine’s future.
Mulino accepted the six criteria as non-negotiable. He said he would review the remaining material with his cabinet and lawyers before announcing a decision, but he hasn't set a date. The proposal remains a recommendation: the mine has no approved restart deal, and the report sets no date for future activity. Nearby communities feature in the plan for services; arbitration claims, closure costs and legal conditions shape the negotiation.