Copper producer First Quantum Minerals Ltd. reached an eleventh-hour wage deal with union leaders in Panama, averting a strike at its flagship mine.

The two sides agreed on salary adjustments and bonuses the day before a strike was scheduled to start at the Cobre Panama mine, union leaders said in a video distributed early Saturday.  

The wage accord avoids stoppages at an operation that accounts for about 1.5 per cent of global copper production and is an economic engine for the Central American nation.

The agreement also alleviates some uncertainties at a mine that’s been the target of protesters calling on lawmakers to reject a new tax arrangement brokered between the government and the Vancouver-based firm six months ago. The tentative tax deal requires congressional approval.