As Nicaragua’s mining sector comes under increasing scrutiny from the United States, the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has quietly moved to “clean up” its family’s involvement in the gold industry since the last week of February, two sources confirmed to LA PRENSA.
According to the official gazette La Gaceta dated April 7, the Attorney General’s Office (PGJ) swiftly transferred a concession previously held by Grupo Minero Xiloá (Grumixsa)—through which the Ortega-Murillo family processed gold from artisanal miners in western Nicaragua—to Plantel Los Ángeles, S.A., a company represented by U.S. nationals. The transfer is documented in mining concession title PGJ-DGM-009-2026.
Regime built extortion scheme around gold
The request was submitted by the new concessionaire on February 25 and approved on March 16—just 19 days later—for publication on April 8, when it gained legal force. Months earlier, the Ortega-Murillo family had implemented an extortion scheme targeting artisanal miners and companies, effectively controlling the gold trade.
The system operated through three corporate entities: Capital Mining Investment—sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and linked to Laureano Ortega Murillo (the dictators´son)—as well as Suministro y Montaje Electromecánico, and Grumixsa, which ran a processing plant in the community of Villanueva, in Chinandega.
On May 15, 2024, the U.S. Treasury cited Laureano Ortega Murillo, an investment advisor to the regime, when imposing sanctions on Capital Mining Investment. In the same resolution, authorities also sanctioned Compañía Minera Internacional (Comintsa), linked to Energy Minister Salvador Mansell. Both individuals are also sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
“Capital Mining is a Nicaraguan mining company and one of several regime-aligned firms operating in the gold sector. It acts as an intermediary, charging other mining companies to do business in Nicaragua. The company is controlled by Laureano Ortega Murillo,” the U.S. government stated at the time.
Since then, the regime has remained silent regarding allegations of opaque business dealings and the network of companies uncovered by LA PRENSA in subsequent investigations.
Shifts within the corporate network
Sources told LA PRENSA that Capital Mining Investment has scaled back operations significantly and has even stopped collecting the five percent fee it allegedly charged artisanal miners—gold that was processed at Grumixsa’s facilities.
Grumixsa itself operated a processing mill in Chinandega, serving as another financial stream for the ruling family.
Suministros y Montaje Electromecánico, the third company in the network, is reportedly also operating at minimal capacity following direct orders from Murillo. Its representative, accountant Omar Cortez Moncada, participated in February’s minimum wage negotiations representing the service sector but has not been seen publicly since.
LA PRENSA has attempted for months to contact officials linked to these companies, including Julio Espinoza of Capital Mining Investment, Cortez Moncada, and Marlon Salinas, a former Alba Generación employee associated with Grumixsa, without success.
Ortega-Murillo ties to Grumixsa
A LA PRENSA investigation published last November found that Grumixsa is partly owned by Urbanizadora Industrial, S.A. (Urbisa), one of 22 companies tied to the Ortega-Murillo family conglomerate, according to a 2022 investigation by the outlet Confidencial.
Grumixsa’s offices in Managua and its Villanueva processing plant were previously owned by the state-run Empresa Nicaragüense de Minas (Eniminas), which was sanctioned by the United States in June 2022.
The concession now transferred to Plantel Los Ángeles corresponds to the “Flor de Azalea” lot, covering 1,352.29 hectares, according to official records.
Transfer to Plantel Los Ángeles
The Attorney General’s Office authorized the transfer of Grumixsa’s processing plant concession to Plantel Los Ángeles, represented by U.S. citizen James Randall Martin, identified in documents with Nicaraguan residency ID 000132501. His company is well known in the country for working with artisanal mining and exporting Nicaraguan gold to Switzerland and other destinations.
LA PRENSA contacted the company seeking clarification on whether it had reached an agreement with Grumixsa to acquire the Villanueva plant, but had received no response as of publication.
Before this new concession, Plantel Los Ángeles operated in La Libertad, Chontales. In 2022, the state allowed it to increase its processing capacity from 150 to 220 tons per day, after having revoked that capacity in 2014 despite a 25-year concession period.
“One of the sources said that in late February, Murillo ordered the shutdown of Suministros and the suspension of monthly payments imposed on artisanal miners. Secondly, the Grumixsa plant was closed, and they began seeking a Western buyer,” a source said, attributing these decisions to U.S. pressure and investigative reporting by LA PRENSA.
U.S. scrutiny and the Chinese mining concessions
Beyond safeguarding its business interests, the Ortega-Murillo family has granted concessions to 15 little-known Chinese mining companies, covering 8.5 percent of Nicaragua’s national territory, according to a recent study by Fundación del Río.
Laureano Ortega Murillo has actively promoted Chinese investment since Nicaragua restored diplomatic relations with China in December 2021.
For environmentalist Amaru Ruiz, the transfer raises serious concerns. “It appears they are preparing for potential retaliation from the U.S. market,” he said.
Controversial confiscation of U.S. firm
U.S. scrutiny of Nicaragua’s mining sector stems not only from opaque concessions to Chinese firms but also from the controversial takeover of a gold processing plant owned by BHMB Mining in northern Nicaragua.
The assets of that U.S. company were handed over to two Chinese firms favored by the regime: Zhong Fu Development and Santa Rita Mining. The dispute has reached the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), where BHMB Mining is seeking $80 million in damages.
The claim is based on protections under the Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) and a bilateral investment treaty between the United Kingdom and Nicaragua.
The case has drawn criticism from figures close to U.S. President Donald Trump, including Richard Grenell, who has called the actions in Nicaragua “outrageous.”
Gold remains central to Nicaragua’s economy
In recent weeks, Laureano Ortega Murillo has sought to reassure mining investors, meeting with major business leaders to calm concerns in a sector reshaped by Chinese entry, increased fiscal pressure, and the ruling family’s own interests.
Gold remains one of Nicaragua’s top exports. In 2025, the country exported $1.961 billion worth of gold, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The boom is driven largely by high international prices.
Following the collapse of Venezuelan cooperation, the Ortega-Murillo family identified gold as a key business opportunity—one they are now attempting to quietly restructure under growing international pressure.
