As supportive as Nicaragua’s government is of mining, any publicly traded international miner must ask themselves: is it worth the reputational risk? That is one of the key pre-investment mining risks that investors and miners must consider when evaluating projects in Nicaragua.
For those less concerned with reputational risk and able to skirt U.S. sanctions, there are nonetheless operational risk issues to contend with in Nicaragua. Only one-third of all roads are considered navigable by anything less than an off-road vehicle. Nicaragua has no major rail lines, although the country does have 2,220 kilometers of navigable waterways and there is considerable traffic on some of these routes.
Nicaragua is home to 19 active volcanos and sits adjacent to two tectonic plates. As a result, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent and can be disruptive. The country’s eastern lowlands, of increasing interest to miners, are susceptible to hurricanes. Seasonal rains cause mudslides each year in the interior. Insurance costs can be high.
Miners and investors are very familiar with-above-the-ground risks facing mining projects in Latin America. But until now, they have lacked the tools to quantify country risk from a mining perspective when evaluating new projects.
To help investors and miners begin or enhance their mining project due diligence in Nicaragua, AMI has developed a free resource: the 2022 Latin America Mining Risk Index. This 44-page report offers risk scores for jurisdictions that were developed after weighing more than 70 key metrics. Its development comes from long experience, as AMI’s mining practice has been helping miners and investors avoid, mitigate, or manage risk via on-the-ground intelligence over the course of nearly three decades and 200+ consulting projects in Latin America.
Please click below to learn more about this unique report, the first to quantify mining risk in Latin America, and learn more about how it can help you in evaluating pre-investment risk to mining in Nicaragua and Latin America.
