” I have decided […] to ask the Secretary of Commerce to implement a conservation and safe management plan solely for the maintenance of the Cobre Panama project,” is the name of this mine, which produces 300,000 tons of copper per year, the president said in a television news item.

This clearly means the cessation of operations for this Canadian company, which accounts for up to 75% of Panama’s exports and 4% of its gross domestic product (GDP).

Mr. Cortizo claimed that Minera Panama, First Quantum’s Panamanian subsidiary, “failed to live up to its commitment” to sign a new concession agreement before Wednesday that would have increased the royalties paid in Panama to $375 million, ten times more than that previous amount.

The lack of an agreement with the government obliges the Canadian company and its Panamanian subsidiary to cease all operations in the country as they were not authorized to do so by a new contract. The British head of the Canadian company in Panama, Keith Green, did not react immediately after the Panamanian president’s speech.

First Quantum Minerals has invested more than $10 billion between earthworks, building a power plant, a port, housing for its 7,200 employees and purchasing heavy equipment.

Panama said on December 9 that negotiations with the Canadian company to extend the concession for this huge open-pit copper mine had “stalled” five days before the signing deadline.

In January, Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo announced his intention to tighten the site’s operating conditions.

The mine, discovered in 1968, is located on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, 240 km from the capital.