The inter-ministerial commission that assessed the Cobre Panamá project handed President José Raúl Mulino its final report on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, setting out recommendations on the future of the mine, which has been idle since November 2023. The handover took place at 8am at the Ministerio de la Presidencia (Ministry of the Presidency) in Panama City.
The commission is made up of Trade and Industry Minister Julio Moltó, Economy and Finance Minister Felipe Chapman and Environment Minister Juan Carlos Navarro. Moltó said the document arrives with recommendations but no decision attached: "We will give the president the space and the time to analyse the report and the recommendations so that he can issue instructions and take decisions on the matter," he said, according to Metro Libre.
What the audit says
The report sets out the findings of an independent audit carried out by the certification firm SGS between January and June 2026, organised into 15 thematic volumes covering the legal, fiscal, environmental, technical and operational aspects of the deposit, which sits in the district of Donoso, in Colón province.
The assessment produced an overall compliance level of 87.73 out of 100. By area, according to La Estrella de Panamá:
- legal, administrative and fiscal matters: 88.2%
- environmental performance: 87.6%
- operational and technical performance: 90.2%
- environmental risks and liabilities: 81.7%
The lowest mark, then, is the one for environmental risk. The audit identified nine non-conformities among the 370 environmental commitments reviewed, concentrated in reforestation, biodiversity conservation and water management, and flagged risks tied to exposed mineral material, water handling and the possible generation of acid drainage.
The cost of 32 months closed
The mine stopped operating in November 2023 after the Corte Suprema de Justicia (Supreme Court) ruled the concession contract unconstitutional. Since 2025 the site has kept up limited activity: maintenance work and the export of copper concentrate left in stockpiles.
The shutdown now runs to 32 months and losses of more than $6.3 billion, close to $5.9 million a day, with a 65% contraction in foreign direct investment and a 75% fall in goods exports, according to figures cited by La Estrella de Panamá.
Objections to the report
Environmental groups question the audit's validity, arguing that more than 40% of the commitments assessed lack sufficient evidence to support the score. On the other side, the Cámara Minera de Panamá (CAMIPA, the country's mining chamber) recommends restarting operations with constitutional compliance and tighter oversight.
The report obliges the executive to do nothing: it is input for a decision that remains pending and that, given the deposit's weight in Panama's external accounts, will be settled on fiscal as much as on environmental ground.
With information from La Prensa, La Estrella de Panamá and Metro Libre.
