Minera Panama pipeline breaks for a third time

Communities near Donoso Colón are concerned about health risks as a broken Minera Panama pipeline leaves the Chicheme stream and the Pifá river gray.

Initially, the Ministry of the Environment (MiAmbiente) reported that it was probably "damage to the pipeline that carries the material extracted and processed at the height of the Pifá River and close to the Chicheme and El Sinaí communities." However, hours later, an updated bulletin pointed out that it was the rupture of the solder joint of a pipe that carries water towards the tailings tank.

This pipeline leaves the process plant to the tailings tank and contains chemically sterilized rock, but without mineral, the entity said.

The break was registered on July 14. The environmental impact that the operation could have in the ecological connection zone from Panama to Mexico, known as the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, was questioned.

Read the full La Prensa article, the community demands certainty in mining research. 

According to this article. There have been 209 environmental breaches by Minera Panamá (from 2012 to 2019).

They have had reported and documented effects on soils and waters, with more than a dozen detailed reports from MiAmbiente. 

Photo source: La Prensa