Calibre Mining Co. has merged with Equinox Gold, forming New Equinox Gold and aiming for significant gold production by 2025. The merger will not change day-to-day operations. Meanwhile, Nicaragua has rapidly granted mining concessions to Chinese firms, raising environmental and indigenous rights concerns amid soaring gold prices.
Calibre Mining Co., operating in Nicaragua, has officially merged with fellow Canadian company Equinox Gold to form New Equinox Gold. This merger positions them as the second largest mining firm in Canada based on joint investments and expected gold production. Current operations include the El Limon and La Libertad mines, which will continue under the Equinox Gold Corporation name after the merger completion.
The partnership is projected to produce 950,000 ounces of gold by 2025, excluding additional output from two mines in development set to yield a further 590,000 ounces. In January 2023, Calibre celebrated a milestone of producing one million ounces of gold in Nicaragua since its inception in 2019, generating substantial revenue from gold exports amounting to approximately US$1.354 billion in 2024.
Despite the merger, operations are expected to remain unchanged. A mining industry professional indicated that neither the company’s daily functions nor extraction processes would be affected, maintaining normalcy in operations. In 2023, Calibre produced 242,109 ounces of gold, decreasing in 2024 to 207,220 ounces, reflecting a decline in production.
The price of gold is experiencing a remarkable surge, reaching a record $2,954.4 per ounce as reported by the Central Bank of Costa Rica, heralding favorable prospects for gold mining companies. Concurrently, the Nicaraguan government has been rapidly issuing new mining concessions, specifically to Chinese companies, benefitting from the heightened demand.
From October 2023 to April 2024, thirteen new mining concessions were allocated to three Chinese corporations, accounting for 11.66% of the total area designated for metallic mining in Nicaragua. Environmentalist Amaru Ruiz criticized this development, alleging that contracts for undeveloped mines are being cancelled to prepare land for new foreign enterprises, which threatens indigenous rights and environmental integrity.
This ongoing rush to allocate mining rights has raised alarms among environmental advocates and indigenous communities, who perceive these concessions as detrimental to their territories and an incitement to armed invasions by colonists. Ruiz referred to this cancellation process as a “clean-up” effort to standardize territories for new mining concessions, emphasizing the opaque nature of the process that affects previously granted rights.
The merger of Calibre Mining Co. and Equinox Gold positions them as a significant player in the Canadian mining sector, with ambitious gold production expectations. Concurrently, Nicaragua’s issuance of mining concessions, particularly to Chinese companies, raises serious environmental concerns and poses threats to indigenous communities. As the gold prices soar, the implications of these new concessions merit considerable scrutiny from environmental advocates and civil society.
Original Source: havanatimes.org
