PANAMA CITY, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Canada's First Quantum

hopes to export copper concentrate from its shut mine in

Panama as soon as it gets approval from the Panama government,

John Dean, general manager at the Cobre Panama mine, said on

Tuesday.

Cobre Panama, one of the world's top sources of copper, was

shut down in November 2023, hours after Panama's Supreme Court

declared FQM's contract unconstitutional, a move that followed

environmental protests.

For over a year, 120,000 metric tons of copper concentrate

have been stuck at the disputed mine. The concentrate belongs to

First Quantum, and the company is ready to share the royalties

that comes from the sale of copper concentrate with the

government, Dean said.

The export of the copper, however, depends on the

approval of the mine's preservation and safety plan by the

Panama government, he added.

FQM has ramped up its public relations efforts since the

mine closure to change the public opinion against the mine, but

has yet to formally engage with President Jose Raul Mulino, Dean

said.

Cobre Panama has become a flashpoint in the mining

industry as its closure removed 1% of global copper supply.

Mulino has said his government would

decide the mine's fate

early this year.

The president will first resolve the country's social

security issue, and then he will come to the mine dispute, Dean

said.

"We would have liked to see things move quickly and we

would have liked to have seen the preservation plan approved,"

Dean said.

The

final hearing

for the Cobre Panama mine under the International Chamber

of Commerce proceedings has been moved to February 2026 from

September this year.