(Bloomberg) — First Quantum Minerals Ltd. told its lawyers to suspend its arbitration cases against Panama, paving the way for renewed negotiations with the Central American government over the company’s shuttered copper mine.
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The local subsidiary overseeing First Quantum’s Cobre Panama mine said it instructed legal counsel to meet with Panama’s legal team “to work on the suspension of arbitration.” First Quantum had initiated proceedings before the International Court of Arbitration in Miami late last year and has since sought $20 billion from Panama in an arbitration process under a Canada-Panama free trade pact.
The latest move may set the stage for a breakthrough between First Quantum and Panama’s government, which ordered the mine closed in December 2023 amid sweeping anti-mining protests and political upheaval under the predecessor of President Jose Raul Mulino. Panama’s president has repeatedly said First Quantum must drop its arbitration cases before talks on the mine could begin.
Shares of First Quantum rose as much as 7% to C$21.76 in Toronto, the highest intraday price since October 2023.
“This forms part of a transparent and constructive process that seeks a solution to benefit the workers, communities, providers and all Panamanians,” Cobre Panama said in a Friday statement. “While we work on the next steps, our vision for the future of Cobre Panama continues to be clear: guaranteeing a responsible and transparent future for this project.”
Cobre Panama is significant for both Panama and First Quantum, as well as the copper market. The $10 billion operation accounted for about 5% of Panama’s economy before its closure and generated about 40% of First Quantum’s annual revenue. At its height, Cobre Panama’s output represented about 1.5% of global copper production.
In another sign of progress earlier this week, Mulino authorized the Vancouver-based miner to export 121,000 tons of copper concentrate stockpiled at its operation, while signaling Thursday that he’d begin to tackle the mine issue as soon as next week, “God willing.”
(Updates shares and context throughout.)
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