Panama: "A brilliant future for mining" (according to its President at least)

Here's a direct translation of this story that hit the wires tonight.

7:03pm. Panamá (ACAN-EFE). - President Ricardo Martinelli stated today that he is willing to make changes in the mining law (of Panamá) to facilitate investments in Panamá from South Korea, The United States of America and Canada. He said that in Panamá there are "great opportunities" for mining development in the copper deposits in the country.

"We told the President of South Korea (Lee Myung-Bak) that we would change the law. With the greatest of pleasure we'll change it. I want investors from the government of Korea, from Canada, from The United States and from the stock market in mining companies here," Martinelli said during a speech to a business forum. Martinelli emphsized that "in Panamá there is great opportunity in mining" and said that the Cerro Colorado mine in the province of Chiriqui "has proven reserves larger than the el Teniente mine in Chile. Who knows, we may be sitting on the biggest deposits of copper behind Chile," he said.

The President added that the country could not remian prostrate and lose this "great opportunity" for investment that this sector presents.

"In Panamá there is a brilliant future in mining, and where there is copper there is also gold and silver," Martinelli said, and named the example of a mine that will open in Panamá in 2013 with an investment of U$4Bn.