Developing a mine closure plan can cost $1.5 million

The cost of preparation only Mine closure plan from Panama Copper Project, can reach 1.5 million dollars, regardless of its implementation Minister of Trade and Industry, Jorge Rivera’s staff.

The Panamanian authorities’ assessment of the plan to close the mine corresponds to international assessments of the closure of similar projects, the trade minister said.

However, Rivera staff made it clear that the process of closing a mine the size of Cobra Panamá could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars over the years it takes.

This December 19 The State of Panama presented the Action Plan for the orderly and definitive closure of Cobra Panama.

The store manager explained that mine closure plans with these characteristics take approximately 2 years to prepare and up to 10 years or more to implement.

The work plan determines the tasks that start from December 23, 2023, with the organization of the temporary phase of environmental preservation and safe management, until June 2024, with the start of preparation Ordered final closing and post-closing plan.

The action plan is based on three specific strategies: first, orderly and final closure; second, defense of the state before international arbitrations; and third, the sustainable substitution of metal mining in national GDP (gross domestic product).

In the orderly and final closure of the Cobre Panamá project, an interim environmental protection and safe management plan will be activated, which includes environmental tasks (physical and chemical stability), technical tasks, safety tasks, work tasks, and legal and financial issues.

Likewise, its second axis includes revisions environmental audit, technical mining audit and legal validation of guarantees and finances.

In its third axis, it establishes Ordered Final Closure and Post Closure Plan (PCFO) along with the presentation of technical instructions for the development of the plan, the formation of a multidisciplinary expert committee, the formation of civil supervision and the development, approval and supervision of the plan.

Meanwhile, the strategy for defending the country’s interests in international arbitrations is under the coordination of MICI and MEF, the public ministry and the formation of the Legal Advisory Commission.

In the middle of the announcement of the National Government, Minera Panama SA in charge of the Cobra Panamá project, repeated which has an approved Closure Plan as part of the Category III Environmental Impact Study.

This plan includes the gradual restoration of 3,100 hectares affected by mining, with short-term, medium-term and long-term strategies.

He indicated that botanists and microbiologists are working in the nursery and laboratory to reproduce the original flora that would be planted in the intervened areas. It also conducted test plots with different native species to assess their growth and adaptation, the company said.