First Quantum Ties Cobre Panamá Ramp Target to Restart Approval

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. CEO Tristan Pascall said Cobre Panamá could reach “80% or so” within six to nine months of restart approval, though the percentage’s measure is unspecified and Panama has not approved reopening.

Pascall gave the estimate during First Quantum’s Oct. 29 third-quarter earnings call, which began at 9 a.m. ET (1300 UTC). He said the schedule depends on preparing the mining operation, including getting equipment ready and training operators. Drill-and-blast work had not started, and 18 trucks had been put into service. The company did not define the operating measure behind 80%, so the figure does not set a specific production level. First Quantum gave no calendar start date; the six-to-nine-month estimate is conditional on formal approval.

The current program processes previously mined stockpiles. No ore extraction was underway at the site on Sept. 30. First Quantum said all three processing trains were brought online sequentially in the third quarter and that stockpiles could support processing until mid-2027. The company also discussed stabilizing a two-train configuration; sequential starts do not establish that all three trains operated at once.

First Quantum puts the stockpile program’s total cost near $200 million and its related cash outflows at roughly $80 million as of Sept. 30. That is separate from another $250 million the company expects to spend after formal restart approval for working capital, capital expenditures and commissioning.

At quarter-end, First Quantum’s net debt stood at $5.309 billion, a $98 million quarterly decline; net leverage was 2.6x. Chief Financial Officer Ryan MacWilliam said the company is targeting a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of about 1x before project sanction. He discussed the target alongside financing options for Taca Taca, a copper-gold-molybdenum project in Argentina.

Panama’s Interministerial Commission urged officials to examine whether a deal could address pending arbitration and permit a restart. Its report included 17 recommendations and six guiding criteria, and considered a potential restart in the context of an orderly, self-financed closure. The report did not approve reopening or set a restart date. The decision remains with President José Raúl Mulino.