Within few months Canada's First Quantum Minerals starts commissioning company´s massive 5.48 US dollar billion copper project in Panama. It will be one of the largest of few new red metal mines to begin production by the end of the decade. This so called Cobre Panama project is now ready to produce 320 000 tonnes of copper in 2019.
The company, which gained control over the Cobre Panama project in 2013 with the acquisition of Canadian copper miner Inmet Mining , announced newly that the open-pit mine was now about 50 percent complete.
Speaking at the Paydirt Latin America Downunder conference, in Perth, First Quantum global exploration director, Mike Christie, said the firm would spend close to 1 billion US dollar this year to advance construction at the project, located about 120 km west of Panama City, and 20 km from the Caribbean Sea coast.
The Toronto-based miner plans to invest a further 830 US dollar million next year and 110 US dollar million in 2019, when the mine is expected to reach full capacity of 320,000 tonnes of copper annually.