Petaquilla mine extracted 6000 ounces of gold per month

Most countries have some natural resources that they exploit to bring in revenue to the state and Panama has become more successful of late in doing the same. The real important thing to consider is the fact that Panama is a small country with only 3.25 million people and those resources can go along way to helping the country move into a brighter future. I understand that there are environmental concerns from any kind of resource exploitation and we can only hope Panama leadership takes these matters seriously, but in my opinion Panama needs to take advantage of every opportunity it can to improve its balance sheet. Panama's people for the most part are not highly educated or entrepreneurial and when you have neither of these qualities you need something like natural resources in order to have the funds to improve infrastructure, education and health care. So you will see me posting discoveries and announcements of natural resources, usually in a positive light as I view it as an important way to fund Panama's future.

The Petaquilla Gold is a producing gold mine and as can be seen from a recent brief in La Prensa, they are averaging 6000 ounces a month in production. Panama is increasing their revenues from 2% to 4% of the production according to another article about mining in general last week.

Excerpt:

Source: Prensa.com
Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Modifications planned to the Mining Resources Code also include requirements for environmental studies.

In addition to the increase in royalties from 2% to 4%, the reforms to the Mining Resources Code that the Panamanian government is working on will include the payment of taxes as soon as companies generate revenue, as well as the requirement for environmental impact assessments (EIAs).

The precise content of the reforms is unknown but the minister for Industry and Commerce, Roberto Henríquez, commented that mining companies will have to pay the same percentage as levied on Petaquilla Gold, which was increased by the current administration from 2% to 4%.