Metals Exploration secures Nicaragua mining rights after Candy meeting with sanctioned officials

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Metals Exploration secures Nicaragua mining rights

Highlights

Metals Exploration secured eight new Nicaraguan mining concessions covering over 60,000 hectares adjacent to La India, doubling its interests after a March application.
All Nicaraguan officials involved in meetings with Metals Exploration are under U.S. sanctions, triggering increased political and regulatory scrutiny for the company.
Metals Exploration's share price has climbed around 25% in the past 12 months, with La India expected to achieve first gold production this year.

Nicaragua concessions and company timeline

As first reported by the Financial Times, the London-listed miner applied for eight new exploration concessions in Nicaragua about 10 days after Candy met Laureano Ortega, mining minister Salvador Mansell and attorney-general Wendy Morales in March. Official government Gazette records analysed by the newspaper show the applications covered more than 60,000 hectares next to Metals Exploration’s existing gold development and were approved the day after submission.

Metals Exploration says the process of acquiring the new concessions began in 2025, with the land package negotiated over approximately six to eight months. The company says the concessions were agreed in principle before the final application was lodged in March, and that it did not receive all the areas it had initially sought.

A spokesperson for Candy says he was part of a delegation of more than 30 representatives and stakeholders of Metals Exploration and had no involvement in applying for or obtaining the exploration rights. Metals Exploration says he travelled in his capacity as a significant shareholder, and that the meetings included broad discussions about the company’s operating plans in Nicaragua.

The eight concessions, which sit adjacent to La India, roughly double the size of the company’s interests in Nicaragua and are expected to contain gold, silver and other metals. In April, shortly after the permits were granted, Metals Exploration announced a deal with state-owned Enatrel for electricity infrastructure for the project, and the company says Enatrel is the only entity authorized under Nicaraguan rules to provide grid connections.

Sanctions risks and political scrutiny

All three Nicaraguan officials at the March meeting have been under U.S. sanctions since at least 2024. Washington has described Laureano Ortega as part of a corrupt regime, while Mansell and Morales have been accused by the U.S. of involvement in sham elections and repression.

The U.S. Treasury said in April that members of the Ortega regime had turned Nicaragua’s mining sector into a complex network of front companies and frontmen, with the scheme managed by Laureano Ortega and Mansell. It also alleged that senior figures in the regime benefited from rising gold exports through kickbacks tied to the sector.

Metals Exploration says it strongly rejects any suggestion that it has engaged in bribery, acted within a front-company network in Nicaragua, or knowingly dealt improperly with sanctioned individuals. The company adds that it has taken legal advice to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions.

The development adds to scrutiny around Candy, a prominent fundraiser and treasurer for Reform UK, as the party faces wider questions over funding. Candy was previously the largest shareholder in Metals Exploration, which operates one producing gold mine in the Philippines, while the company says first production from La India is expected this year and its share price has risen by around a quarter over the past 12 months.

Our earlier coverage of the House Ways and Means Committee’s markup outlined a broad bipartisan package spanning digital-asset taxation, tax administration, healthcare access and tougher trade enforcement. The measures signaled increased compliance expectations for businesses, particularly around reporting, fraud controls and supply-chain scrutiny, as the bills move through Congress.

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