Nearly $6 billion investment for Panama

Nearly $6 billion investment for Panama

By: Steven Rich, MBA

The Minera Panama mining company, which is a subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals of Canada, will be investing nearly $6 billion in Panama. Their giant copper mine Cobre Panama is located at Donoso on Panama’s Caribbean coast.

Minera Panama is putting forth corporate responsibility plans involving social and environmental strategies while employing 5,000 workers where 80% of them are Panamanians including 1,000 from local communities.

Having recently completed the Port of Punta Rincon, it is now 30% complete with building a thermal power and processing plant including seven mills to grind extracted copper ores in the Donoso Mountains. The project expects completion in 2018 and will be operational for up to 40 years.

The Port of Punta Rincon will handle all of the construction materials for the $500 million processing plant and the $600 million power plant. It will also handle all of the shipping of the copper concentrates to ports around the world.

The power plant expects to generate around 300 megawatts supplying the mining operations with all of their electricity with extra megawatts feeding into the national grid.

In addition to providing jobs and boosting Panama’s economy for the next 40 years, Minera Panama plans to help the country’s environment with a 10,400 hectares reforestation program around the mining area. Minera Panama already reforested nearly 1,500 hectares.

On top of all this, Minera Panama will be providing more than 2,000 scholarships for Panamanian students including sending students to universities in other countries. The mining company will also assist with literacy and educational programs in the nearby La Pintada and Donoso school districts.