The copper mine opens its doors to visitors

Cobre Panamá has announced that their mine, located in Donoso, Colón province, an hour and a half from Penonomé, Coclé province, can receive more than 100 people a day to learn the details of the project, which is in the conservation and safe management phase ( PGS), after the state order to cease work.

This is the beginning of the Visitor and Citizen Participation Program, which includes tours lasting approximately seven or eight hours, for all interested Panamanians over the age of 18.

According to Maro Gálvez, the company’s spokesperson, to visit the project you must register at transparencycobrepanama.com and reserve a date to visit. The tours, free of charge, will depart from the Hotel Coclé and include transportation, snacks and food throughout the day.

Gálvez explained that the program was created after an opinion study recently conducted by the analysis and consulting company Gallup, where 49% of those interviewed were interested in knowing the facilities and activities that are being developed in the Conservation and Safe Management Plan (PGS).

“These 49% are well represented throughout the country, but we started this program with the nearby communities, because they are the ones who need to know firsthand all the true information about what is being done with this Conservation and Safe Management (PGS). The greatest interest visitors have is to get to know the facts and be able to clarify all those misinformation campaigns that are generated on the networks. When they go to the mine and learn about it, they realize that a lot of what they see on your mobile phone is not true,” said Gálvez during a press conference Cobra Panamá.

The company has established the main points of the route: Wildlife crossings: it will be explained that before the construction of the road, a study was carried out to indicate the hot zones that animals pass through and, taking this into account, eleven wildlife crossings were built to maintain the continuity of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor . These wildlife crossings are monitored by the largest network of cameras in the country and are the only road that crosses the biological corridor that has wildlife crossings.

Reforestation: a visit to the middle river and the forest cover, which allows the reproduction of species that require shade, forming a secondary forest, and a demonstration of a progressive program of restoration and reforestation.’

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The main points make up the route.

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The tour can last approximately several hours and will be guided by ambassadors, experts and engineers.

Tailings Management Facility: Tailings is the crushed rock that remains after the process, separating the mineral from the rock. The tailings management facility is designed and monitored according to international standards for the safe management and containment of this material. The Cobra Panamá site receives up to five meters of rain per year, so water treatment and management at the tailings management facility is critical and monitored, according to the Environmental Impact Study.

Water quality metrics and PH levels will be displayed: visitors will be able to observe for themselves the life of the much-questioned fish. There is also a visit to a pit or open-air excavation, mills and a 300 MW power plant will be shown, which, according to Cobra Panamá, produces enough energy to light the entire Azuero Peninsula, and the excess energy contributed by the network could reduce costs for the entire country.