PANAMA Law and Practice Contributed by: Roy C Durling, Arias, Fábrega & Fábrega
sions have been granted pursuant to the CMR and related legislation. Mining concessions may be granted to private persons (regardless of their nationality) and local governmental entities (for example, the Ministry of Public Works). The CMR prohibits the granting of mining concessions to foreign governments and their dependencies, although these enti - ties may own shares or participations in private companies that hold mining concessions. Most mining concessions are currently granted to pri - vate entities. The NDMR receives and reviews applications for mineral concessions and recommends their acceptance or rejection. The application process for mining concessions involves the submission to the NDMR of information on the legal, finan - cial and technical status of the applicant; maps; mining plans and budgets for at least four years; a nominal application fee; and environmental impact studies. The type and scope of the environmental impact study will depend on the degree of intrusiveness of the intended mining activities. Applicants must present their plans to the Ministry of the Environment for their review. The Ministry will then decide on the type of environmental impact study required for the concession. Since concessions are granted on an exclusive basis for a certain type of mineral in a particular area, applicants are prevented from applying for the same type of minerals and areas that are cur - rently the subject of another concession. Once the concession applications have been approved by the NDMR, the concession will be granted by means of a concession contract entered into by the concessionaire and the Min -
ister of Commerce and Industries, representing the state of Panama. The applicant will have to submit performance bonds to the governmental authorities, which will secure the obligations of the applicant during the time of the concession. For a concession contract to be legally valid, it must be countersigned by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic and pub - lished in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Panama. The Ministry of the Environment is the Panama - nian government entity in charge of reviewing and approving environmental impact studies filed by applicants of mining concessions, and of overseeing concession holders’ compliance with the approved studies and remediation plans. Contract-Laws In addition to mineral concessions granted pur - suant to the CMR, some concessions have been granted by means of contracts between the con - cession holder and the state of Panama. Once signed by the concession holder and the Min - ister of Commerce and Industries in represen - tation of the state of Panama, these contracts are presented to the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic to be countersigned, and are subsequently presented to the National Assembly of Panama for approval by means of a special law. Concessions granted pursuant to this method are commonly referred to as con - tract-laws. Concessions for some of the largest infrastruc - ture projects in Panama have been granted pur - suant to contract-laws or special legislation. For example, Texaco’s former oil refinery (built in the early 1960s and refurbished in the early 1990s) and Northville’s trans-Isthmian pipeline (built in the late 1970s and refurbished in the 1990s and at the start of the 21st century) were both
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