A Korean consortium led by state run Korea Resources Corp said that it will begin development of a Panama copper mine in the first half of this year.

The announcement comes after Panama's environmental protection agency approved development plans for the Cobre Panama mines, in Colon Province 120 kilometers west of Panama City.

KORES in a press release said that the approved environment and social impact assessment comprehensively authorizes the building of roads, ports and a coal fired thermal power plant. Such infrastructures are vital for the development of the mine, which may yield more than 2.14 billion tonnes of copper and molybdenum.

The corporation said that "Infrastructure building will take about four years with 1 million tons of copper concentrates to be mined every year from 2016 onwards.”

The corporation and LS-Nikko Copper Inc a South Korean copper smelter and refiner, currently own a combined 20% stake in the mine that they can operate for 30 years.

(Sourced from Yonhap)