"We have not been notified of this suspension, but in good faith, I must assume that this is a process (...) that takes a reasonable amount of time," said President José Raúl Mulino.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said Thursday that his government has not yet been notified by First Quantum Minerals (FQM) that the Canadian company has suspended international arbitration over its closed copper mine in the Central American country.

An internal memo from the company's local unit, Cobre Panamá, last Friday showed that FQM had instructed its lawyers to begin working to suspend arbitration against Panama, referring to cases it filed after the government closed the mine in 2023 following environmental protests.

Mulino said his administration would not be able to hold talks with FQM until the arbitration suspension was concluded, but that he believed the mining company was taking appropriate legal steps.

"We haven't been notified of this suspension, but in good faith, I must assume that this is a process (...) that takes a reasonable amount of time; there are six or seven arbitration requests that must be suspended," he stated. "Until we are notified, there will be no formal talks."

The president added that next week he will begin talks with his team and the national mining chamber to discuss issues related to Cobre Panamá.

Shares of First Quantum Minerals were down 0.6% at 1501 GMT on Thursday.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno and Daina Beth Solomon. Edited by Raúl Cortés Fernández)

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