Caribbean & Central America - May 2015 (ISSN 1741-4458)

Earlier this month clashes took place at the Bonanza gold and silver mine located in the eponymous municipality of Nicaragua’s north Atlantic autonomous region (Raan), after police fired at small-scale miners (known locally as ‘güriseros’) protesting against low prices offered by mining company, Hemco, which is owned by Colombia-based Minero S.A. The clashes, which took place on 4-7 May, left one protester dead, six police officers wounded and resulted in 33 arrests. The unrest comes as the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN)  government led by President Daniel Ortega continues to seek to attract foreign investment to Nicaragua’s mining sector.

While calm has been restored to the area after the authorities agreed to set up a dialogue table with the miners, mining in the Raan had already made international headlines last year following the collapse of another gold and silver mine, El Comal, also owned by Hemco, which took place on 28 August as a result of a mud-slide. According to government reports a total of 29 güriseros were trapped by the accident, 22 of whom were successfully rescued. Described by the Nicaraguan chamber of mining (Caminic) as “a disaster waiting to happen”, the tragedy was one of the worst in the country in recent years.

Meanwhile the latest unrest comes as the government – which last August held its first ever international mining congress – continues to try to attract investment. Last month a delegation of representatives from ten Mexican mining companies paid a visit to Nicaragua as part of a two-day tour organised by Caminic; Nicaragua’s official export and investment agency, ProNicaragua; its Mexican counterpart, ProMéxico; and the Mexican mining cluster of Zacatecas (Clusmin). According to a ProNicaragua press release the “export offer of the Mexican delegation includes equipment for subterranean mining, concrete additives, industrial machinery, consultancy services, tailings dam engineering, mining anchors, cement cartridges, mining engineering, operation and maintenance of rig equipment, among others”.

Last year, gold was Nicaragua’s third biggest export, worth some US$386m and representing 15% of the country’s exports. Total gold production during 2014 amounted to 437 troy ounces, representing an increase of 176% since 2007. Gold mining activity is currently concentrated in three areas– besides the Raan, the other two mining centres are the El Limón and La Libertad mines in the department of León (both owned by Canada’s B2Gold).  However, in April 2014 ProNicaragua announced the opening “over the next three years”, of La India, Nicaragua’s fourth industrial gold mine. Owned by the United Kingdom’s Condor Gold, the mine will be located close to the town of Santa Rosa del Peñón, León department.

• Tourism

According to Nicaragua’s tourism institute (Intur), foreign tourism generated some US$445.4m in revenue for Nicaragua last year, 6.8% more than in 2013. Nicaragua expects to raise about US$450m in revenue from an estimated 1.35m foreign visitors this year.