US Embassy Links Chinese Mining to Illegal Gold Digging in Costa Rica, China Calls It Unfounded

The United States Embassy in Costa Rica has accused Chinese mining companies operating in Nicaragua of driving illegal gold extraction across the border into northern Costa Rica, drawing a sharp rebuttal from the Chinese Embassy in San José. In a recent Facebook post, the U.S. Embassy said Chinese mining firms in Nicaragua often use abusive tactics, including forcing artisanal miners to sell their gold below market price. According to the embassy, those practices push more Nicaraguan miners to cross into Costa Rica to dig for gold illegally, adding pressure on the northern border. The embassy said the United States supports Costa Rica in protecting its border and fighting illegal mining. The Chinese Embassy rejected the claims as unfounded. Responding last night, it said most mining companies in Nicaragua are North American or Latin American, and that the few Chinese firms authorized to operate there hold very limited concession areas. The Chinese Embassy questioned whether Washington was applying a double standard. It added that the Chinese government requires companies operating abroad to comply with international norms and local laws and to meet their environmental and social responsibilities. The exchange followed a visit by U.S. Ambassador Melinda Hildebrand to the northern border area of Los Chiles. There she met Attorney General Carlo Díaz, a day after his reelection, as well as the regional office of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and mayors from the northern region, to discuss the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases. At the Las Tablillas border post, Hildebrand met Vice Minister of Government and Police Omer Badilla, Border Police Director Gerald Camacho and Professional Migration Police Director Edwin Miranda to discuss strengthening border security. Costa Rica’s government had not publicly responded to either embassy’s statements as of Saturday morning. The dispute is not new since in March, Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaoyao denied that Chinese companies were involved in illegal gold mining at Crucitas, near the Nicaraguan border, after then-Security Minister Mario Zamora said Chinese firms in Nicaragua were buying gold illegally extracted from Costa Rica. Wang dismissed those statements as media propaganda. She said China had received no request from Costa Rica on the matter and that mining companies in Nicaragua were mainly Canadian or from other countries. Illegal gold mining has taken hold in parts of the northern zone for years. Local reporting has documented clandestine tunnels at Cerro Conchuditas, where hundreds of Nicaraguan miners dig out soil every day and carry it to the banks of the San Juan River for processing. Lawmakers have moved to treat illegal mining as organized crime, and a group of geologists has called for a referendum on gold mining at Crucitas. The northern border has become a growing focus of security cooperation between Costa Rica and the United States, which has also included U.S. surveillance support against drug trafficking at sea.