Canada's FQM hopes to export copper concentrate from shut Panama mine

Adds details, background throughout

PANAMA CITY, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Canada's First Quantum FM.TO hopes to export copper concentrate from its shut mine in Panama as soon as it gets approval from the Panama government, John Dean, general manager at the Cobre Panama mine, said on Tuesday.

Cobre Panama, one of the world's top sources of copper, was shut down in November 2023, hours after Panama's Supreme Court declared FQM's contract unconstitutional, a move that followed environmental protests.

For over a year, 120,000 metric tons of copper concentrate have been stuck at the disputed mine. The concentrate belongs to First Quantum, and the company is ready to share the royalties that comes from the sale of copper concentrate with the government, Dean said.

The export of the copper, however, depends on the approval of the mine’s preservation and safety plan by the Panama government, he added.

FQM has ramped up its public relations efforts since the mine closure to change the public opinion against the mine, but has yet to formally engage with President Jose Raul Mulino, Dean said.

Cobre Panama has become a flashpoint in the mining industry as its closure removed 1% of global copper supply. Mulino has said his government would decide the mine's fate early this year.

The president will first resolve the country's social security issue, and then he will come to the mine dispute, Dean said.

"We would have liked to see things move quickly and we would have liked to have seen the preservation plan approved," Dean said.

The final hearing for the Cobre Panama mine under the International Chamber of Commerce proceedings has been moved to February 2026 from September this year.