Panama aims to protect its mega-mine

Panama's government will soon present a bill to ensure the judicial security of the Cobre Panamá project, the huge copper mine that Canada's First Quantum is close to finishing its construction stage in the way of a controversial court ruling that raises questions about the mining concession.

At a construction cost of $6.3 billion, the open-cast mine is the biggest private-sector investment in the history of Panama.

If all goes to plan, the mine's first exports of copper concentrate will be sent in June. Once fully on stream, exports are expected to be 320,000 metric tons a year, which should earn $2 billion on international markets, three times as much as Panama current total exports, Efe reports in Spanish.