PANAMA CITY/TORONTO, Nov 29 (Reuters) – For more than a month, a group of 16 fishing boats has been blocking a key port in Panama, choking off coal and essential supplies destined for First Quantum Minerals’ (FM.TO) giant copper mine there, eventually forcing it to halt operations at the company’s biggest revenue source.The fishing flotilla has provided a fresh jolt of marine backing to the thousands of Panamanians who have been marching daily to demand the annulment of the Canadian miner’s contract, arguing its presence violates Panama’s sovereignty and threatens its environment.The fishermen are angry that the company has appropriated resources, land and water, and worry about the mine’s environmental consequences. Cobre Panama has said it is committed to growing more new forest than is impacted by its mine.Panama’s top court on Tuesday declared First Quantum’s contract unconstitutional and its president announced an orderly shutdown of the mine, but the vigils on land and sea are set to continue as protesters insist that authorities take concrete steps to close the site.”We aren’t going anywhere,” Sabino Ayarza, a representative of the protesting fishermen, told Reuters on Tuesday from his boat.A complete shuttering of the mine, which accounts for about 1% of global copper output and 5% of Panama’s GDP, would signal a David vs. Goliath victory for Panamanian protesters.Their grassroots movement, nearly unheard of in business-friendly Panama, has wiped C$11 billion ($7.4 billion) off First Quantum’s market value and raised global copper prices on supply worries. Copper is a crucial metal in electrification as the world moves to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.The protesters’ victory in Panama is emblematic of the outsized and sometimes unexpected influence local communities are having on mining companies worldwide. In Portugal, for instance, Europe’s biggest producer of lithium, some local activists are determined to halt mine developments. Canada’s First Nation groups have also mounted fierce opposition against mining on their lands.Those hoping to halt the mine’s operations have seen false dawns before. Panama’s top court struck down First Quantum’s previous contract in 2017, but the company was allowed to mine while a new contract was approved. So protesters aren’t taking any chances this time.”If this goes on for a year, we will stay a year, there is no end-date,” Ayarza said.Cobre Panama accounted for about 46% of First Quantum’s overall revenue in the third quarter, according to company data. The company was “reasonably confident” last week in ships carrying supplies reaching the port soon, but failed to circumvent the fishermen’s blockade, said a person familiar with the mine’s developments who asked not to be named.First Quantum, said it would respect the court’s ruling and on Tuesday announced the mine has suspended commercial production due to the blockades.SURPLUS THREATENEDA Scotiabank report forecasts Cobre Panama’s copper…
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