Canada’s First Quantum Minerals has an-nounced plans to invest about $375 million with the aim to expand its Cobre Panama copper project.
The company’s updated technical report for the Panama-based mine "incorporates updates with respect to ramp-up and commissioning of the current operation and provides detail on the expansion of the pro-ject from 85 million tonnes per year … to 100 Mtpa starting in 2023," First Quantum Minerals said in a statement. The project "is expected to increase average production levels to over 375,000 tonnes of con-tained copper per year after year 5".
Set up in 1983, the Canadian miner runs operations in Zambia, Mau-ritania, Spain, Finland, Australia, Turkey, and Panama. In 2017, the company reported production of 573,963 tonnes of copper, 199,736 oz of gold, and 17,837 tonnes of nickel, according to data released by First Quantum Minerals.