The first shipload of copper concentrate from the Minera Panamá, mine  in Donoso, Colón, will leave in mid-year. and spearhead a significant boost to  Panama’s economy.

Manuel Aizpurúa, spokesman for the subsidiary of Canada's First Quantum, during a ceremony, to mark operation of the mills on Monday, February 11. said that the project has the capacity to export 320,000 tons of copper concentrate.

The copper project has been a $6 billion investment.

Minera Panama has a concession of 13,000  thousand hectares in one of the most wooded areas of the country, which sparked criticism over for the deforestation in the area.

The company says that only 5,000 hectares will be used, and at the end of the project, it will be reforested.First Quantum estimates that the plant will generate $2 billion in exports annually equivalent to 2.1% of the country's GDP.