The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, through the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), granted a new concession of 49,997.50 hectares (approximately 500 square kilometers) to the Chinese mining company Zhong Fu Development S.A. in the municipalities of El Castillo, San Miguelito, and San Carlos de Río San Juan, in the Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve.
This reserve is one of Nicaragua’s largest and most valuable natural areas, recognized by UNESCO in 2003. Located in the southeast of the country, it encompasses more than 1.8 million hectares, including terrestrial and aquatic areas. Its territory includes protected areas such as the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve and the Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge.
Nine Concessions
With this new concession for the «San Agustín 1» lot, this Chinese company adds nine mining concessions granted in two years, totaling 231,202.68 hectares, or approximately 2,312 square kilometers.
According to ministerial agreement 036-SBT-M-034-2025, published in La Gaceta, the official newspaper, on Tuesday, September 30, on May 7 of this year, Feiwu Bian, legal representative of Zhong Fu, requested the mining concession, which will have a duration of 25 years and which establishes that exploration activities must begin in the mining lot within a maximum of four years.
Fifth concession in the southern zone
The concession published this Tuesday corresponds to the fifth awarded by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) in Río San Juan: three to Thomas Metal, one to Linze Minería Group, and one to Zhong Fu.
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Together, the four concessions cover 163,261.8 hectares in that department. Furthermore, among the 33 mining concessions granted to six Chinese companies, the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) has allocated a total of 492,268.69 hectares for mining exploitation, according to LA PRENSA records.
Company Dispossessed American Investors
In mid-September, it was revealed that the Chinese company Zhong Fu Development S.A. had forcibly taken over the BHMB Mining Palacagüina mining site, located in the municipality of Madriz, which legally belongs to BHMB Mining Nicaragua, a subsidiary of BHMB Inc. with US capital, former employees of the site confirmed to LA PRENSA.
Since October 2021, BHMB Mining has operated the site, which processes gold from artisanal miners, also registered with the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM). The company held a 10-year permit granted by the General Directorate of Mines of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM).
According to people who spoke to LA PRENSA on condition of anonymity, the facilities and equipment are valued at more than four million dollars, but at the time of the occupation, there was also material stored and being processed at the mining site, with a value of approximately one million dollars.
According to witnesses and former employees, last Tuesday, September 9, a group of Chinese individuals appeared at the mining site with five Nicaraguans, in civilian clothes but armed and accompanied by a Nicaraguan woman. They are known as a MEM official because she has visited them before, but this time she refused to show identification.
«They showed up very aggressively, broke down the gates, informed the manager that the plant was no longer his responsibility, and took possession of the facilities,» the informant added.
LA PRENSA sought BHMB Mining Nicaragua’s version of events, but they had not responded at the time of publication.
