Panama’s supreme court magistrates will enter deliberations on November 24 to rule on constitutional challenges to a copper mine contract, the court’s secretary general Manuel Jose Calvo Castillo said in a statement.
Magistrates will consider the first two constitutional challenges to the contract with Canada’s First Quantum Minerals “in a permanent session, until we issue a ruling in the least amount of time possible,” Calvo Castillo said.
Public arguments for both cases are set to conclude on Nov. 23 and issuing a ruling is a priority for the court, he said.
First Quantum’s local unit Minera Panama said Thursday it paid $567-million in taxes and royalties to the government, covering the period between December 2021 and October 2023. Protests against the mine have continued since its contract was extended in October, and some groups have called for a national strike on Monday.
Anti-mining roadblocks and violent street protests over the past month have caused $1.7-billion in losses to business, the country’s National Council of Private Enterprise said this week.