The entire space of the concessions exceeds the floor space of some departments similar to Managua, Chinandega and Estelí, in keeping with an evaluation by CONFIDENCIAL.
HAVANA TIMES – The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has handed over greater than 500,000 hectares of Nicaraguan territory for mining exploitation by Chinese language corporations between October 2023 and October 2025, in keeping with official information analyzed by CONFIDENCIAL.
That’s precisely 503,562 hectares, equal to roughly 5,035 sq. kilometers (km2). The sum far exceeds the full space of a number of Nicaraguan departments. For instance, Managua, which has an space of 3,465 km2; Chinandega, which measures roughly 4,822 km2; and Estelí, which covers an space of 2,230 km2.
Mining concessions granted to eight Chinese language-owned corporations
- Zhong Fu Improvement S.A. — 181,254.68 hectares
- Thomas Steel S.A. — 127,480.79 hectares
- Brother Steel S.A. — 59,564.75 hectares
- Waslala Mine S.A. — 49,950 hectares
- Nicaragua XinXin Linze Minería Group S.A. — 49,870.81 hectares
- Three Gold Cash Firm S.A. — 23,223.53 hectares
- Linze Excelente Minería S.A. — 9,102.05 hectares
- Northern Mining Firm S.A. — 3,115.50 hectares
The Fundación del Río, an environmental non-profit now prohibited from working in Nicaragua, has denounced that these concessions are a part of a scientific technique by the Ortega regime to open up Nicaragua’s pure sources to overseas—primarily Chinese language—pursuits, with out transparency or session, even inside protected areas.
The concessions grant unique rights to the Chinese language corporations not just for mineral extraction but in addition for exploration and the institution of processing crops for metallic and non-metallic minerals within the designated zones.
Nicaragua’s mining exports reached $1.39 billion USD in 2024, representing a 20.1% enhance in comparison with 2023, in keeping with the Central Financial institution of Nicaragua.
The Most Latest Mining Concessions
The most recent mining concessions to Chinese language corporations—protecting 54,823 hectares (548.23 km²)—have been granted on September 30 and October 3, 2025, in keeping with certifications from the Ministry of Vitality and Mines (MEM), printed within the official authorities journal La Gaceta.
On September 30, the dictatorship awarded 49,997 hectares within the division of Río San Juan, bordering Costa Rica, to Zhong Fu Improvement S.A.
The MEM granted this Chinese language firm the open-pit mining concession for the realm often called “San Agustín 1,” positioned between the municipalities of San Miguelito, San Carlos, and El Castillo, within the province of Río San Juan.
On October 3, the regime granted Thomas Steel S.A. two mining tons totaling 4,825 hectares within the departments of Nueva Segovia and the Southern Caribbean Coast.
The primary lot, “Río Coco II,” covers 2,870 hectares within the municipality of Quilalí. The second, “La Francia Norte I,” spans 1,955 hectares within the municipality of Muelle de los Bueyes. In line with the MEM, each concessions have been requested on June 18, 2025, and are legitimate for 25 years.
Mining Concessions in Protected Areas
In line with Fundación del Río, the newest concession to Zhong Fu—together with three others granted to Chinese language corporations together with Thomas Steel—was licensed throughout the Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve, which encompasses the Indio Maíz Organic Reserve and the Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge, each within the border space with Costa Rica.
The environmental group warns that granting these concessions constitutes a violation of the Regulation on the Communal Property Regime of Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Communities of Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast Autonomous Areas.
This group, led by denationalized Nicaraguan environmentalist Amaru Ruiz, defined that the approval of the Regulation on Environmental Conservation Areas and Sustainable Improvement repealed the earlier decree regulating Nicaragua’s protected areas, in keeping with statements made on Might 6, 2025.
On the similar time, Fundación del Río has denounced the enlargement of unlawful artisanal mining throughout the Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve and warned that these new concessions may legalize mining exercise within the reserve’s core zone.
Cross-Border Impacts
The group has additionally warned about “transboundary impacts” that this mining exercise may have on Costa Rica, significantly within the Crucitas area, the place unlawful mining has reportedly elevated because of the proximity of Nicaraguan concessions granted to Chinese language corporations and the existence of illicit commerce routes within the space.
It additional cautioned that, “within the absence of transparency and impartial environmental and social research, it’s unimaginable to find out the complete extent of the impacts that this new concession might have on the Indio Maíz Organic Reserve and the Río San Juan Wildlife Refuge.”
Nevertheless, Fundación del Río emphasised the necessity to warn about potential processes of air pollution, deforestation, and elevated encroachment in each protected areas.
In April 2025, the group reported that 4 giant unlawful mining settlements had been established within the Indio Maíz Organic Reserve following the April 2018 hearth, which lasted greater than ten days and destroyed over 5,000 hectares of forest.
First printed in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Occasions.
