The Cobre Panamá project, operated by the company Minera Panamá SA, reported that it has been forced to request the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development (Mitradel) for authorization to terminate the contracts of more than 4,000 collaborators for justified economic reasons.

This, after receiving a formal communication from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) instructing them to 'end the extraction, processing, benefit, transportation, export, and marketing operations, as well as mining activities in general, and take the measures and provisions necessary and reasonable to maintain the safety of the facilities and avoid environmental loss or damage within the mining area.'

According to the company, this measure will be developed at the same time as the voluntary retirement program presented on December 3 in agreement with the UTRAMIPA union.

They maintain that in both cases, the benefits received by the workers are the same and include the payment of the money that is legally owed to them. 'The only difference is that the administrative process before Mitradel can take up to two months to be resolved,' they indicated.

Faced with this reality, the Cobre Panamá project reiterated its willingness to engage in an open and constructive dialogue with the Government, which will allow these and other concerns to be addressed in the face of the imminent closure of the mine.