PANAMA CITY, March 25 (Reuters) - Panama has not

authorized visits to First Quantum's shuttered Cobre

Panama mine, the country's Ministry of Commerce and Industry

said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Any entry of third parties to those facilities has been

managed unilaterally by the company, without the participation

or endorsement of the National Government," the ministry said.

The statement was shared on X by Minister Julio Molto and

stated that Panama's government is "in the process of

contracting a comprehensive audit, which aims to technically and

objectively evaluate the current state of operations and their

impact on the environment."

Panama's statement comes after First Quantum announced

on Monday a program of visits to the Cobre Panama copper mining

site, which has been shut since 2023 amid an environmental

dispute with the country, to tour the site.

The Panamanian government believes the public visits may

affect the impartiality of any analysis of the Cobre site and

the existing supplies of copper concentrate there.

Before its shutdown, the mine was one of the world's top

sources of copper, accounting for 1% of global output.