"Orla Mining to take Panama to arbitration court", 12 April 2024

...Canada’s Orla Mining is mulling taking the Panamanian government to an arbitration court following the country’s rejection of a permit extension request for each of the three mining concessions that make up the company’s Cerro Quema gold project.

The Vancouver-based miner said it had notified authorities of its intentions with the hope the move would open the door to talks between the parties...

The country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry in December not only rejected the permits extension — it went as far as to declare the area comprising the concessions to be a reserve area, revoking them altogether.

Orla said the cancellations were a result of a law passed by Panama’s national assembly in November, which imposed a moratorium on granting, renewing or extending concessions for metal mining activities...