Cobre mine, Panama
Open-pit copper mine / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cobre Panamá is a large open-pit copper mine in Panama, located 120 km (75 mi) west of Panama City and 20 km (12 mi) from the Caribbean Sea coast, in the district of Donoso, province of Colón. The mine consists of four zones totalling 13,600 ha (34,000 acres). The main deposits are at Balboa, Botija, Colina and Valle Grande. With 3.1 billion t (6.8 trillion lb) of proven and probable reserves, Cobre Panamá is one of the largest new copper mines opened globally since 2010. It is located next to the Petaquilla mine.[2]
Location | |
---|---|
Colón Province | |
Country | Panama |
Coordinates | 8°51'07.1"N 80°38'41.2"W |
Production | |
Products | Copper, Gold, Silver |
History | |
Opened | 2019 |
Owner | |
Company | First Quantum Minerals[1] |
Website | www.cobrepanama.com |
Year of acquisition | 2013 |
This mine project was owned by Inmet Mining until 2013, when this company was taken over by First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FQM).[3] Construction continued over the next six years until 2019. Cobre Panamá represents a total US$6.2 billion investment, partly financed by deposits in the amount of US$1,356 million from Franco-Nevada against future deliveries of gold and silver produced by the mine.[4]
Commercial production started in June 2019.[5] At full current capacity, the plant will process 85 Mtpa of ore to produce more than 300,000 t (660 million lb) of copper per year along with gold, silver and molybdenum. This is equivalent to 1.5% of global copper production as of 2023.[6] The operation has a 34-year mine life. The three 28 megawatt-hours (100 GJ) SAG mills and four 16.5 megawatt-hours (59 GJ) ball mills installed at Cobre Panamá are the largest installed in the world up to the year 2020, except for the Sentinel mine in Zambia, also owned by First Quantum Minerals. The project is powered by a 306 MW coal fired power generation plant located at the port built for this mining operation.