Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo approved a new contract with Canadian company First Quantum Minerals for the exploitation of Central America’s largest mine in the country amid protests on Friday.
The bill had been ratified by Parliament a few hours earlier with 44 votes in favor, five against and two abstentions, according to the Official Gazette of Panama, which published the document signed by the president.
Lawmakers gave the green light to a deal that would provide the Panamanian state with a minimum annual income of $375 million, 10 times more than the previous agreement. In addition, the Canadian company is committed to investing millions of dollars in communities near the mine.
The mining company and the government agreed on a new concession contract in March after the Supreme Court declared the original mining contract unconstitutional in 2017. At the end of a standoff that lasted several months, the mining company agreed to increase its tithe to the Panamanian state tenfold in order to continue operating the mine.
“This is about defending national interests, ensuring that we get bigger and better benefits compared to the 1997 agreement and, above all, protecting the jobs of thousands and thousands of Panamanians,” said the Panamanian Minister of Trade and Industry , Federico Alfaro, on Friday.
This ratification came amid protests against a contract that allows the mining company to operate in Panama for 20 years and can be extended for another 20 years.
The access roads to Panama City were temporarily blocked on Friday due to tire fires and parades. The police used gas to disperse the demonstrators. Some of them carried Panamanian flags and anti-mining banners and shouted anti-government slogans.
Opponents of the contract consider the company’s contributions to the state to be insufficient and see this as a danger to the environment.
Former president and 2024 presidential candidate Martin Torrijos spoke of a “historic mistake that will have an impact” on “future generations.”
Located 240 km from Panama City, this gigantic open-air copper mine generates 4% of the country’s GDP and 75% of its export revenue. As of February 2019, the mine was producing approximately 300,000 tons of copper concentrate per year and employing more than 8,000 people.