The Ortega-Murillo regime, through the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), granted the Chinese mining company Xinjiang Xinxin Mining Industry Company Limited a new concession for mineral exploitation for 25 years in the north of the country, according to ministerial agreement 037, published this Monday, September 2, in the official newspaper La Gaceta.
The mining giant will operate the new 483-hectare mining concession through its subsidiary Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Mining Group, owned by Chinese businessman Edward Xiang Liu.
“Grant the company Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Mining Group a mining concession for the exploitation of metallic and non-metallic minerals in the lot called Río Dorado Sur,” says the resolution of the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
The land, which consists of 483 hectares, is located in the municipality of San Juan del Limay, in the department of Estelí, approximately 180 km north of Managua.
Initially, the company had requested a mining concession for 600 hectares, which would also affect the municipality of Achuapa, in León. However, according to ministerial agreement 037 of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the company expressed its interest in reducing it to 483 hectares.
The MEM argued that the new concession was discussed with the municipal councils of San Juan de Limay and Achuapa, which had already given a positive opinion, as stated in certificates issued on July 11 and 12. It is known that in the country both mayors and councilors operate as decorative delegates of the central government.
Artisanal miners will continue working
The Chinese subsidiary Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Mining Group, according to the document released by the MEM, must also comply with certain obligations, including: payment of extraction rights or royalties of 3% of the minerals extracted; start operations within the next four years of the 25 for which the concession was granted; pay income taxes; and provide annual information on extraction work to the MEM.
The Ministry must also allow inspections by the MEM; access and the performance of artisanal mining by those who are engaged in such activity within the area covered by this mining concession; and it must refrain from carrying out mining exploration and exploitation within 100 meters of towns, nearby properties, religious buildings, wells, both sides of communication routes, aqueducts, oil pipelines and public utility works without authorization from the MEM.
More than 43 thousand hectares granted in 2024
In the first eight months of this year, the Nicaraguan company XinXin Linze Mining Group, Sociedad Anónima, has received – including the one granted this Monday – a total of five mining concessions, totaling 43,463.71 hectares for mining exploitation, located in Jinotega, Estelí and North Caribbean areas.
The first concessions that this company received were: one for 651 hectares of the “Chinotega” lot located between San José de Bocay, in Jinotega, and Siuna, in the North Caribbean; the second for 36,610 hectares of the Nuevo Bijagual lot, located between the municipalities of Siuna and Mulukukú, in the North Caribbean.
A third concession was granted for 2,091 hectares located in Puerto Cabezas, North Caribbean; and the fourth, which was delivered on August 13, was for 3,628.71 hectares, located in the municipality of San Juan de Limay, in the department of Estelí.
With information from AFP
