The United States Treasury Department sanctioned seven Nicaraguan mining companies to cut off a flow of capital, which the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo uses to generate income and maintain its political control in the country.
According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Sandinista regime restructured the Nicaraguan mining sector using “front companies” and carrying out “irregular transfers” to launder sanctioned assets and squeeze the country’s gold reserves. Such is the case of Thomas Metal and Zhong Fu Development SA, which received mining concessions from the sanctioned Compañía Minera Internacional, Sociedad Anónima (Comintsa).
Two of the sanctioned companies are accused of having participated directly in the illicit confiscation of US investments, such as that of BHMB Mining Nicaragua SA. Meanwhile, Exportadora de Metales SA (EMSA) and Grupo Minero Xiloa SA (Grumixa) were accused of facilitating the sale and purchase of gold, legitimizing illicit funds.
These are the seven Nicaraguan mining companies sanctioned by the United States (US).
Brother Metal SA is a company incorporated in Nicaragua with Chinese capital, which entered the mining exploitation business in February 2025. In its first year of operation, it obtained 14 mining concessions totaling 208,959.35 hectares of concessioned land in Nicaragua.
The mining concessions, delivered by the Murillo-Ortega regime to Brother Metal SA, are located in the departments of Madriz, Nueva Segovia, Chinandega and the Autonomous Region of the Northern Caribbean Coast, “despite having little or no experience in gold exploration,” he says. the OFAC note.
Two of the concessions held by Brother Metal SA were transferred to it in November 2025 by the company El Porvenir Murra SA.
- Company: Brother Metal SA
- Legal representative: Xiaocun Bao
- Concession land: 208,959.35 hectares
- Location: Nueva Segovia, Chinandega, RACCN and Madriz.
Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Mining Group SA
The Nicaragua company Xinxin Linze Minería Group SA, with Chinese capital, was incorporated and registered in Managua, Nicaragua. The first public records of her date back to March 2024, when she obtained her first mining concession. Since then it has obtained 14 concessions, but three of them were transferred to other Chinese companies.
Currently, Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Minería Group SA maintains 11 mining concessions totaling 113,300.07 hectares, located in the departments of Jinotega, Estelí, León, Río San Juan, Chontales, RACCN and RACCS. According to OFAC, this company exported “more than $25 million in gold to the United States between early and mid-2025.”
In July 2025, Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Minería Group SA transferred two of its concessions to the company Linze Excellent Mineria, SA, also with Chinese capital. In addition, on March 19, a month before being sanctioned by OFAC, it transferred a third batch to the company Jinrun Huaxia Internacional Minería, SA
- Company: Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Mining Group SA
- Legal representatives: Edward Xiang Liu and Lijun Dong
- Concession land: 113,300.07 hectares
- Location: Jinotega, RACCN, Estelí, León, Río San Juan, RACCS and Chontales.
Thomas Metal SA, is the sanctioned company with the largest amount of land registered in concession. This company entered the mining exploitation business in Nicaragua in November 2023. Since then, it obtained 17 concessions totaling 228,272.98 hectares.
The mining concessions delivered by the regime to Thomas Metal SA are located in the departments of Chinandega, RACCN, RACCS, Río San Juan, Nueva Segovia and Matagalpa.
One of Thomas Metal SA’s mining concessions was transferred to it in January 2026 by the sanctioned International Mining Company, Public Limited Company (ComYontsa). According to OFAC, the transfer was facilitated by Comintsa’s legal representative, Nelson Francisco Sobalvarro, also sanctioned by the US Treasury.
- Company: Thomas Metal SA
- Legal representatives: Xiangming Gu and Xiaocun Bao, the latter also linked to Brother Metal
- Concession land: 228,272.98 hectares
- Location: Chinandega, RACCN, RACCS, Río San Juan, Nueva Segovia and Matagalpa.
Zhong Fu Development S.A.
The mining company Zhong Fu Development SA was also incorporated in Managua, Nicaragua, with Chinese capital. The first records of it are from November 2023, when the Nicaraguan regime assigned it its first mining concession. Since then it has obtained 13 concessions, but five of them were transferred in recent months to other Chinese companies.
Currently, Nicaragua Zhong Fu Development SA maintains 8 mining concessions totaling 150,431.60 hectares, located in the departments of Chinandega, Río San Juan and RACCN.
One of the concessions that Zhong Fu Development SA obtained in 2024 was transferred to it by the sanctioned Comintsa. Transfer that would have been facilitated by the legal representative of Comintsa and the lawyer Lester Matus Tamariz, also sanctioned by the US Treasury. In January 2026, Zhong Fu transferred this concession to the Tutuwaka Mining Company, SA
Zhong Fu Development SA also transferred, in the months prior to the sanctions, four other concessions to the companies: Waslala Mine SA, YM Mining Company, SA, and Southern Mining, SA
According to OFAC, Zhong Fu Development SA also participated in the confiscation of the facilities of BHMB Mining Nicaragua SA, a processing plant owned by US investors. Fact for which, the company and its legal representative, Feiwu Bian, were sanctioned.
- Company: Zhong Fu Development S.A.
- Legal representative: Feiwu Bian
- Concession land: 150,431.60 hectares
- Location: Chinandega, Río San Juan and RACCN.
Santa Rita Mining Company SA
Together with Zhong Fu Development SA, the company Santa Rita Mining Company SA was sanctioned by the US Treasury for being directly linked to the forced takeover and arbitrary expropriation of the facilities of BHMB Mining Nicaragua SA.
According to La Gaceta records, Santa Rita Mining Company SA is Chinese-owned and only has one mining concession in Nicaragua. This concession was awarded in 2019 and includes 3,356.9 hectares, located in the Northern Caribbean of Nicaragua.
- Company: Santa Rita Mining Company SA
- Legal representative: Chunqing Sun
- Concession land: 3356.9 hectares
- Location: RACCN.
Exportadora de Metales Sociedad Anónima (EMSA) is a company based in Managua that is dedicated to selling bulk gold in the United States. The US Treasury described it as a “key tool” of the Nicaraguan regime to generate income.
According to OFAC, EMSA collects “unrefined gold” in six different locations in Nicaragua and melts it at its headquarters in Managua.
Profits from their sales are electronically transferred to a bank account in Managua and, according to the United States, these funds “may have been used to equip, train and pay salaries to paramilitary groups” subordinate to the regime.
Xiloa Mining Group SA (Grumixa)
He Xiloa Mining Group SA (Grumixa) gained enormous prominence after the OFAC sanctions against the International Mining Company (Comintsa) and Capital Mining Investment Nicaragua in 2024.
Grumixa was sanctioned by OFAC because it was dedicated to buying artisanal gold in cash, then processing and exporting it through a network of allied companies, “using the US financial system to legitimize illicit funds.”
According to the US, the resources obtained by Grumixa could be used to “finance the regime’s repressive operations and maintain the political machinery that guarantees its control of power.”
Currently, this company has the participation of former officials from other entities sanctioned by the United States, such as the Nicaraguan Mining Company (Eniminas), the Caja Rural Nacional RL (Caruna) and Alba de Nicaragua (Albanisa).
