In 2005, gold was still the most significant (in terms of value) metallic mineral mined in Nicaragua. Small amounts of copper, lead, and tungsten have also been mined in Nicaragua in the past, and the country was estimated to have resources of antimony, tungsten, and molybdenum that could be of regional significance. Nicaragua has deposits of industrial minerals that are also of regional significance. In 2005, calcium carbonate, gypsum, dimension limestone and limestone for cement manufacture, pumice, sand and gravel, and tuff were believed to have been mined or quarried, although even estimated data on actual production of some of these industrial minerals was not available at the time table was created. Although last reported to the USGS by the Nicaraguan Government in 2002, some clays may continue to be produced and were suspected to include some bentonite and kaolin. Significant deposits of phosphates and zeolites had been discovered in Nicaragua, and production of these industrial minerals had been proposed although not reported through the end of 2005 (Ellis, 2005; Banco Central de Nicaragua, 2006, p. 60; Administración Nacional de Recursos Geológicos, Ministerio de Fomento, Industria, y Comercio, Nicaragua, 2007§).

The total value of mine production in the country was about $56 million, of which gold accounted for 87.5%; industrial minerals, .3%; and silver, .2%. The real value of total mine production accounted for about .% of the real GDP in Nicaragua, although the real value of production by the mining sector decreased by about 5.7% compared with that of 2004. Nicaragua’s real GDP grew by 4% and the real value of production of industrial minerals in the country increased by 2% during this same timeframe. The GDP based on purchasing power parity was $2billion (Banco Central de Nicaragua, 2006, p. 60; International Monetary Fund, 2006§; Administración Nacional de Recursos Geológicos, Ministerio de Fomento, Industria, y Comercio, Nicaragua, 2007§).

The real value of mine production of metals decreased by % in 2005 compared with that of 2004 and was led by a decrease of about 5% in the quantity of gold mined during the year. The real value of total mine production of metals was more generally affected by an extensive labor strike, the overall decrease in nonfuel mineral reserves in the country, and by lower grades of precious metals (gold and silver) in ores that were mined during the year. In 2005, the total nominal value of nonfuel mineral exports was $44.7 million, which accounted for 5.2% of total exports, and the nominal value of exports of petroleum refinery products was $2.4 million. The country’s total exports during the year included 3,86 kg of gold, which was valued at $42.45 million. Nicaragua also exports small amounts of silver in years when prices support mining and exporting the ore. Almost all imports of raw minerals were accounted for by imports of mineral fuels and refinery products, which totaled $520.7 million and included about $260 million spent on imports of crude petroleum. Therefore, the approximate nominal mineral trade balance for Nicaragua appears to have been -$463.6 million (Banco Central de Nicaragua, 2006, p. 68, 46, 48; Administración Nacional de Recursos Geológicos, Ministerio de Fomento, Industria, y Comercio, Nicaragua, 2007§).

Investment in the mining sector of the mineral industry increased to about $54.5 million compared with $22.45 million in 2004, and almost all these funds were accounted for by FDI.

In 2005, investment in the metal mining subsector was $33.17 million compared with $3.25 in 2004, and it was $20.97 million compared with $9.2 in the industrial minerals subsector during the same timeframe. Most of the investment in the metallic mineral mining subsector was in exploration for new gold reserves, because existing reserves continued to decrease during the year. Most of the investment in the industrial minerals sector was to replace decreasing production of limestone and other minerals used in construction, which would minimize Nicaragua’s imports of construction materials, including cement. According to data made briefly accessible by the country’s Ministerio de Fomento Industria y Comercio (MIFIC), total production of limestone was about 29cubic meters in 2003 but decreased to about 248 cubic meters in 2004. In 2005, investment in expansions at existing quarries helped increase the country’s annual production of limestone to approximately 291cubic meters again. In 2004, the nominal value of the country’s imports of nonmetal mineral materials for construction had increased by about 48% to $47.0 million compared with $3.7 million in 2003, but increased by only another 7.9% to $50.7 million in 2005. Costa Rica was the leading supplier of construction materials (both metallic and nonmetallic) to Nicaragua in each of these years and supplied about 26% of Nicaragua’s total imports of construction materials in 2005 (Administración Nacional de Recursos Geológicos, Ministerio de Fomento, Industria, y Comercio, Nicaragua, 2007§; Banco Central de Nicaragua, undated a§, b§).

The leading investor in exploration and development of productive capacity to mine metals in Nicaragua was Meridian Gold Inc. of Reno, Nevada. Near the end of 2004, Meridian entered into a 60% earn-in option contract with Radius Gold Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to explore for gold at Radius’s El Pavon epithermal gold property, which Meridian renamed Natividad. To comply with the terms of this contract, Meridian planned to invest another $.million during 2006 in exploration and would be required to complete a feasibility study by the end of 2008. During the year, Glencairn was the second-ranked investor in the metal mining sector of the mineral industry of Nicaragua, and the company was investing in development of the Santa Pancha vein system in order to replace reserves that had been extracted from the Talavera deposit at its Limon gold mine. By sometime in 2007, the company expected to transfer all mining activities to exploitation of the Santa Pancha deposit at the Limon Mine, because reserves at the Talavera deposit were scheduled to be depleted by then. In May 2006, Glencairn also announced that it would acquire La Libertad gold mine from yamana and planned to invest in exploration and development to expand the reserves at the property. Glencairn was expected to be the leading investor in nonfuel mineral exploration in 2006 in Nicaragua, but no timeline for potential expansions of gold reserves at La Libertad Mine was available at the time of this writing (table3; Mining Journal, 2005; Glencairn Gold Corporation, 2006a, p. 3, 8-9; b; Meridian Gold, Inc., 2006, p. 23, 44; Ellis, 2006§).