April 24 (Reuters) - Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals believes it will be able to take the already mined copper out of its disputed Cobre Panama mine in Panama after the national elections there in May, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday.
Panama's current government ordered the closure of the copper mine last year after public protests over environmental damage from mining in the country. Cobre Panama is one of the biggest copper mines in the world and accounted for 40% of First Quantum's revenue last year.
First Quantum has been negotiating with Panama's government to allow it to sell the copper that it mined before the dispute began. The sale could help cover the costs of maintaining the mine.
"Obviously, in the context of election politics and a strong debate around that, the balance of probability probably spills over after the election," said Tristan Pascall, CEO of First Quantum Minerals, when asked during an analyst call when the company expects to take out the copper from the mine site.
Cobre Panama is under dispute after the Panama Supreme Court nullified its mining contract and the country's president closed the mine after public protests erupted against mining.
A new government in Panama could turn around the mine's future. However, polls show that people of Panama are still against mining in the country.
Pascall said during the call that the company cannot say yet whether the company can restart the mine by the second half of this year.
The move pushed First Quantum to undertake a series of debt restructuring measures, including issuing equity worth $1 billion and corporate debt worth $1.6 billion. It is also considering bringing in a equity partner for its Zambian mines.
Reuters in March reported that First Quantum officials met with Chinese government officials to discuss the prospect of copper miner Jiagnxi Copper buying the disputed copper from Panama after the elections.
Shares of First Quantum were up 2% on the Toronto Stock Exchange around midday. (Reporting by Divya Rajagopal and Seher Dareen; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Michael Erman)
