says it will use “all available legal means” to preserve the value of its Cobre Panama mine, after the Panamanian government ordered it to cease operations, and as fears persist that the asset could be either nationalized or sold to another mining company.
Panama is demanding First Quantum pay it a minimum of US$375-million a year, regardless of how the mine performs and regardless of the price of copper. But that could put First Quantum under significant financial strain if the commodity crashed. First Quantum wanted downside protection against that scenario.
While Panama has not explicitly said it might seize the mine, the Mining Chamber of Panama earlier this week said that the language coming out of the government points to it as a possibility. First Quantum’s biggest shareholder, Jiangxi Copper Corporation Limited, a Chinese state-controlled company, in the past has been floated as a possible acquirer of the Canadian copper miner.Vancouver-based First Quantum is Canada’s biggest copper producer. Cobre Panama is its biggest mine, and accounts for more than half of the company’s net asset value.
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