Inmet contracts SNC-Lavalin for Cobre Panama

Inmet Mining (IMN-T) has awarded a contract to Joint Venture Panama (JVP), a joint venture held 70% by SNC-Lavalin Group (SNC-T), to provide basic engineering for the Cobre Panama copper-gold project in Panama.

Cobre Panama, wholly owned by Inmet, hosts measured and indicated resources of 3.27 billion tonnes grading 0.36% copper and 0.06 gram gold per tonne.

The initial phase of the contract will involve basic engineering for all facilities except a power plant and should take about 12 months.

Following basic engineering, and subject to a final investment decision by Inmet to build the project, the contract will be extended to authorize JVP to conduct full detailed engineering, procurement and construction management for all facilities except the process plant.

“We have gone through a rigorous process to assess the select group of bidders with the appropriate financial strength and relevant experience to execute a mining project of this scale,” said Ian Pirie, Inmet’s vice-president of projects.