Cobre Panama project cited as best practice example
We would like to congratulate First Quantum Minerals and Minera Panamá on the Mining Association of Canada’s citation of their Cobre Panama project as a ‘best practice example’ for grievance management in their Grievance and Community Response Mechanism Guide. We are proud to have worked alongside the local team on their community relations, grievance management, resettlement and livelihoods restoration work.
Good stakeholder relations are critical for resource project success and the management of material risks. Managing the concerns of external stakeholders, as well as employees and contractors, requires companies to document their concerns and respond to them in a constructive fashion through robust grievance management systems. The Cobre Panama site in western Panama introduced a Community Response Mechanism that “guarantees potential claimants a legitimate process they can easily access, and utilize to report grievances that are subsequently investigated and resolved within 30 days”. The process is tracked and managed in real time and the results are reported back to stakeholders annually.