First Quantum Minerals Ltd. FQVLF announced that it has agreed to discontinue one of its arbitration proceedings and suspend the other related to the Cobre Panamá mine. This marks a significant development in First Quantum’s ongoing efforts to resolve outstanding issues related to the Cobre Panamá mine, which has remained shut since December 2023.

The company pulled back its arbitration proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce's International Court of Arbitration, which was initiated in November 2023. First Quantum also announced it would suspend its notice of intent of arbitration under the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement.

The company is focused on finding a mutually beneficial solution. The decision to discontinue two arbitration proceedings was made after constructive engagement with the Government of Panama's legal counsel.

Details on FQVLF’s Cobre Panamá Mine Suspension

In November 2023, the company announced that the Supreme Court struck down its contract to operate at the Cobre Panama mine. Panama's Supreme Court of Justice ruled that Law 406 is unconstitutional.

The company halted operations at its Cobre Panama mine due to a blockade of small boats at the Punta Rincon port on Nov. 20, 2023, which hampered the delivery of essential supplies. It is implementing a Preservation and Safe Maintenance program to safeguard the mine's compliance and environmental integrity, asset preservation and safe maintenance.

In December 2023, the company received orders from Panama's trade and industry ministry to end operations at its Cobre Panama, per reports. The ministry formally advised the company to halt all activities related to the extraction, processing, refining, transportation, export and sales at the mine.

Cobre Panama accounted for roughly 40% of First Quantum's revenues and 1.5% of the world’s copper supply in 2022.

First Quantum Stock Price Performance

First Quantum’s shares have gained 25.4% in the past year against the industry’s decline of 12.8%.

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FQVLF’s Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

First Quantum currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the basic materials space are Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. AXTA, Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS and CSW Industrials Inc. CSWI. While AXTA currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), CRS and CSWI carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Axalta Coating has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 16.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AXTA’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $2.51 per share. Its shares have gained 2.5% in the last year.

Carpenter Technology has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 15.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $6.95 per share. CRS shares have skyrocketed 170.3% in the last year.

CSW Industrials has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $8.50 per share. CSWI shares have soared 26.1% in the last year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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