By Divya Rajagopal and Valentine Hilaire

Canadian miner First Quantum announced on Wednesday it has suspended the contracts of 7,000 employees at its major copper mine in Panama due to what it described as force majeure, according to an internal memo to staff seen by Reuters.

The head of the union that represents the Cobre Panama mine workers, Michael Camacho, confirmed the content of the document.

(Reporting by Divya Rajagopal and Valentine Hilaire; Editing by David Alire Garcia)