They are asking the company for a mine dismantling schedule

It took more than a month and a half for the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Mici) to send Mining of Panama observations regarding the Conservation and Safe Management Plan (SMP) presented by the mine in mid-January.

Mići explained in the press release that the objections to the evaluation of the plan were made by the institutions they make up Intergovernmental commission for the orderly closure of Copper Panama.

Among the most relevant remarks addressed to the mining company, a schedule or order is required to be presented dismantling of its facilities, equipment and structuresprioritizing sensitive areas such as warehouses of dangerous substances and explosives, etc.

This would be the correct first step to find out when will there be signs that the company is withdrawingafter it stopped working in the first days of December.

You are also required to provide financial guarantees to deal with the cost of mine closure actionsand the estimated monthly amount of PGS costs, which must be broken down in as much detail as possible.

Over it copper concentrate deposits which pose a risk to the environment, there is no clear position of the state commission and only the determination of alternatives in terms of safety from fire, explosions or alternative use of these materials is requested.

The the company has requested permission to sell this material that he could pay for the closure of the mine, but the Government did not respond to that request, which is why controversies started about who owns the concentrate, after the Supreme Court declared the contract unconstitutional.

Eye other areas of risksuch as water management, settling basins, tailings management, drains, diversion canals and others, must present their monitoring schedules.

Finally, Mici indicated that the implementation of PGS will require a public relations strategy that must be thoroughly used with inclusion of all involved actors and civil society.

More It has not been determined when the copper mine closure plan will be drawn upa process that continues, after three months since the verdict of the Supreme Court, which acted under the pressure of citizens due to energetic protests in November last year.