Community blasts NGO over role in Cobre Panama mine closure

[Redator]

Communities near First Quantum Minerals’ (TSX: FM) Cobre Panamá copper mine are accusing a leading environmental NGO of fuelling political unrest and failing to support those most affected by the operation’s 2023 closure.

In a letter to the Packard Foundation, which has granted over $400,000 to the Environmental Advocacy Centre (Centro de Incidencia Ambiental-CIAM), the Civic Community Committee (CCC) alleges that funds meant for community development were diverted toward political activism. 

The foundation’s own disclosures show CIAM received $45,000 in 2022, $180,000 in 2023, and another $180,000 planned for 2025.

The CCC argues that none of these funds have translated into tangible benefits for the thousands of residents who lost livelihoods when the mine shut down. Instead, the group says CIAM helped trigger the closure by leading the lawsuit that overturned the contract between First Quantum’s subsidiary, Minera Panamá, and the Panamanian state.

According to the committee, CIAM’s actions fuelled mass protests in 2023, leading to the loss of over 1,500 formal jobs. The group also point to the abrupt halt of scholarships, training, and youth programmes in sports, culture, and entrepreneurship, initiatives which once anchored social progress in the region.

The CCC also claims CIAM has not visited the affected communities since the mine shut down, focusing instead on political alliances and social media campaigns that promote a partisan agenda.

“Their actions have created more poverty, division, and frustration among those of us who live here—the exact opposite of what they preach,” the letter states.

Talks on the table

Commerce Minister Julio Moltó said in September that negotiations on Cobre Panamá’s potential reopening could begin in late 2025 or early 2026, pending the results of a comprehensive audit. The review, led by SGS Panama Control Services, will evaluate the mine’s environmental, social, and economic impact, including future employment prospects.

Moltó emphasized that reopening Cobre Panamá is President José Raúl Mulino’s second-highest priority, after pension reform, which is already underway. He also noted that Minera Panamá and its affiliates have suspended international arbitration against the Panamanian state, creating an opening for potential dialogue.

Labour groups back the move. Aniano Pinzón, general secretary of the General Union of Workers (UGT), said the union supports reopening efforts to restore lost jobs and reignite the national economy.

Economic pillar

Before its closure, Cobre Panamá ranked among the world’s top copper producers, delivering 350,000 tonnes in 2022. The mine contributed about 5% of Panama’s GDP, and First Quantum estimates the halt has cost the country up to $1.7 billion in lost economic activity.

Mine workers, contractors, unions, and surrounding communities continue to push for a restart, citing ts critical role in the national economy. The government insists no decision will be made until the audit is completed.

First Quantum has kept the site in standby mode, prepared to resume operations if an agreement is reached. A visit by MINING.COM earlier this year found the once-bustling operation now cloaked in silence, its machinery idle beneath the encroaching jungle.