And that is one of the reasons for the large protests. Environmental organisations, indigenous people and rainforest advocates were among the first to call for opposition to the mining project, but the environment and biological diversity are also increasingly on the agenda in the country, she says. Enormous water consumption Modern mining not only requires the clearing of large forest areas and the excavation of gigantic amounts of soil and rock, but also has an enormous water consumption when the crushed ore is to be cleaned. According to the company behind Cobre Panama, their mines used an average of 1.6 tonnes of water for every tonne of ore they dig up and crush – and last year there was a total of 86 million tonnes of ore. Even though they reuse 73 percent of the water, the mine’s water consumption is huge, and environmental activists accuse the mine of polluting rivers when it releases water from the cleaning process. Panama is already affected by water shortages due to the weather phenomenon El Niño and climate change. This means, for example, that the Panama Canal – one of the world’s most important transport routes and shortcut from the Atlantic to the Pacific – is now in reduced function. There is simply too little water in the canal for the normal number of ships to sail through. Normally 36 cargo ships can cross the canal every day, but in December the authorities only allowed 22 ships a day, and they expect the number to drop further in the next couple of months. – There is low water in the canal, which is incredibly important for the Panamanian economy. In addition, there must of course be enough water for both the farmers’ fields and drinking water, says Rechnagel. – In the protests, this has been a recurring theme, and you see signs that say “Panama can live without gold and copper, but not without water”. Many Panamanians are concerned about the mine’s large water consumption. Cost of jobs The giant mine is also a large workplace – 6,000 people are directly employed, and with indirect work it creates a total of around 40,000 jobs. The law, which includes the agreement between the mining company and the government from October – which the Supreme Court has now struck down – states that the mining company should pay more than NOK 2.5 billion a year for the right to mine copper, which the government has announced that, among other things, they would earmark for pension payments. The Panamanian economy will therefore take a hit if the mine is closed permanently. Many jobs and a lot of money are at stake. – Many simply do not trust that the money from there to the national budget will actually benefit the population, considers Rechnagel. – And they are worried about corruption.
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Clears rainforest and consumes huge amounts of water: The Supreme Court in Panama declares a giant mine in the middle of a national park illegal
