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LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR

LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR

A daily publication Of the dialogue

November 4, 2025

What’s the Future of Large-Scale Mining in Panama?

Panama’s Supreme Court last month kept in place a 2023 moratorium on major metallic mining operations. An open-pit copper mine in Panama is pictured. // File Photo: Alfredo via Adobe Stock.

Q

  • Panama’s Supreme Court on Oct. 15 rejected for the second time a lawsuit challenging a 2023 moratorium on metallic mining, constraining the administration of President José Raúl Mulino’s legal avenues to reopen the Cobre Panamá mine. Economy and Finance Minister Felipe Chapman has stipulated that any agreement to reopen the mine must state clearly that Panama is the legal owner of the land and resources and has reallocated funds toward social spending in the revised 2026 budget. What options does the Mulino administration have left to legally reopen the mine after the court’s latest ruling? What are the risks of reigniting protests or political backlash if the mine is ultimately reopened? Could potential efforts to link mining revenue to social spending help shift public opinion?

A

Roy C. Durling T., partner at ARIFA in Panama City: “Despite the Oct. 15 Supreme Court decision, the Mulino administration still has legal options. According to Article 257 of Panama’s constitution, the Panamanian state owns all of the country’s mineral riches and is empowered to exploit them. Law 407 of 2023, a hierarchically inferior norm to the constitution, establishes a moratorium on mining activities by private parties. This law cannot prohibit the state from exercising its constitutional rights. To overcome the Cobre Panamá impasse, the government may reiterate that, as provided in the Constitution, the deposit belongs to the state and that it will secure the services of private mining companies, as contractors, to assist in the exploitation of the deposit. The agreements by the state and private mining companies may require approval by law. There is a precedent for this solution…”

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