By AFP and Entorno | 2024-09-03

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- The Nicaraguan government has awarded a 25-year mineral exploitation concession to the Chinese mining firm Xinjiang Xinxin Mining Industry Co. Ltd. in the northern region of the country.

The announcement appeared on September 2 in the state-owned La Gaceta newspaper.

The mining giant will operate through its subsidiary, Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Minería, under the leadership of Chinese executive Edward Xiang Liu.

"Grant the Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Minería Group a concession for the extraction of metallic and non-metallic minerals in the Río Dorado Sur lot," states the Ministry of Energy and Mines resolution.

The concession covers 483 hectares in San Juan del Limay municipality, Estelí department, approximately 180km north of Managua.

This concession marks the fourth granted to the Chinese mining company in Nicaragua, adding to its existing 42,000 hectares of land for mining exploitation. In mid-August, Managua awarded the company more than 3,000 hectares near the plot announced on September 2.

The Chinese company will pay a 3% royalty on the extracted minerals, though the specific minerals are not detailed in the resolution.

The company is required to commence operations within the next four years.

Indigenous victims

Daniel Ortega's regime has been highly accommodating to mining requests from Chinese companies.

While applications typically take about eight months to a year for approval, those submitted by Chinese businesses often gain approval within just three or four months.

This latest concession expands the area allocated to Chinese miners to more than 270,000 hectares, an area approximately 15 times the size of Washington, DC.

Notably, a significant portion of the land lies within ancestral territories of the Mayagna people.

Since 2015, non-Indigenous groups have invaded those territories, leading to more than 60 deaths, the destruction of communities and the displacement of Indigenous inhabitants to other areas.

Indigenous civil society representatives brought this issue to light during the 159th session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), held from June 12 to 30, 2023.

These leaders also connected the rise in violence perpetrated by "armed settlers" to mining operations and the incursion of Chinese companies into these territories.

Indigenous communities condemned the state's inaction against these crimes and their perpetrators, highlighting a high level of impunity that fuels the violence.

Nicaragua and China initiated a Free Trade Agreement in January.

In 2021, Ortega established diplomatic relations with China after severing ties with Taiwan, which Beijing considers its own territory and aims to reclaim, even by force if necessary.