The revision of the mine must come first

Cobre Panamá has proposed selling the copper concentrate it stores in the mine to pay for its closure, however, for Chamber of Commerce for Industry and Agriculture It is important to conduct an audit first so that we know what is left in the project, paralyzed.

President of the business union, Adolfo Fábrega García de Paredeshe said that this step is necessary, because last year there was a lot of misinformation about the environmental problems of pollution and the valorization of minerals that exist there and have already been extracted.

“It is talked about there there are between 80 and 200 million dollars in copper. We need an audit that will give us objective information about what exists in that place so that citizens can be calm. In order to formulate a closure plan, it is important that this audit is ready,” Fábrega said.

Are they more than 120,000 tons of copper concentrate currently stored in the mining project and Cobre Panama warned that something must be done quickly with this material, because it poses a risk if it remains in that place for a long time.

“Unfortunately, these are things that take a lot of time, but we consider it Care and maintenance must be carried out in parallel with this audit so that a closing plan can be made later”, the entrepreneur believes.

So far, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Jorge Rivera Staff, has stated that several of the Government’s priorities are aimed at conducting an environmental audit and a comprehensive audit of mining processes.

“Through Mi Ambiente (Ministry of the Environment) we are working on the management of the project assignment for the audit of environmental protection”, the minister explained after the meeting with the representatives United Nations, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)made last week.’

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In January, the first inspection of the mine is carried out by the Minister of Trade together with members of civil society.

15-20 (view, professional).

million dollars per month Cobre Panamá estimates how much it will cost to close the mine.

Also, the owner assured that the second priority, at this moment, is to define What will be done with the copper concentrate? which is maintained in mine deposits, environmental maintenance of pits or extraction pits, as well as tailings management facilities.

What kind of profile should the auditing company have?

According to Adolfo Fábrega it should be a an independent company, completely apolitical and whose representatives are not in conflict of interestto say exactly what the current situation is.

“Based on all that information, we will know How much will it cost to close the mine?“Indeed, even if one of those involved has to pay for it, and first of all, if the assets that already exist or the funds deposited by the mine into the Government’s accounts will be used,” the president of the Chamber of Commerce believes.

Let it not be the State

There is a clear position of the Chamber of Commerce Where should mine closure costs come from? copper and related minerals.

This is the position of the business union Panamanians, let’s not bear this cost which is only known to be significant.

“We do not think that the state should pay for it. Specifically, who and where will it come from, it would have to be decided within the closure plan. The only thing we rule out is that the population has to face the closure of that place at this moment,” said the president of HGK.