Company’s position on the statements made by the Center for Environmental Advocacy (CIAM)

Newspaper: La Prensa
Journalist: Aleida Samaniego
16/12/2024

Company’s position on the statements made by the Center for Environmental Advocacy (CIAM)

A:
Since the stoppage of our activities more than a year ago, we have responsibly implemented various measures to preserve the mine’s facilities, ensuring compliance with safety and environmental standards.

It is necessary to carry out the Preservation Plan, including activities to process the copper concentrate extracted during the concession period, to avoid acid rock drainage, to provide additional material to keep the Tailings Management Facility (RMI) safe and to keep water away from the embankments.

In addition, the basic financial resources needed to pay for these costly activities must be generated to keep the environment and the site safe.

In 2024, we commissioned an independent third party to conduct a comprehensive study on the status of the tailings management facility (IMR), whose report was shared with the authorities for open and proactive communication. The report details that the facility is in a safe condition. Maintenance of the facility has continued even though tailings discharge at the facility has stopped. An experienced team continues to manage the daily requirements at the inactive facility. However, the Preservation Plan presented at the beginning of the year explains the need to implement environmental and safety risk mitigation measures, the full implementation of which requires approval of the plan by the competent authorities.

From Cobre Panama, we reiterate our commitment to transparency and safety and we call on the organizations to carry out a dialogue based on science and engineering, which contributes to a better understanding and real comprehension of the operation of a mine.