The mining record of Honduras
175 concessions in INHGEOMIN's 2026 cadastre, 87 of them at the exploitation stage, held by 122 named concessionaires; 701 dated records back to 1938 in the 2020 layer; and at least 20 mining deaths reported by the Honduran press.
A cadastre the regulator does not publish, and no safety record at all. The Instituto Hondureño de Geología y Minas runs on a Google Sites page with no data; its cadastre is served instead by a GeoServer at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, open to anyone, as a family of yearly layers. The 2026 layer says who holds what today: holder, stage (explore or exploit), class and hectares. The 2020 layer says since when and for what: registration dates back to El Mochito's 1938 grant, minerals, municipalities and departments, including the artisanal and small-mining classes the later layers drop. A departmental employment layer is the only denominator. No layer carries an RTN, Honduras's tax id, so a holder is its spelling. What no agency publishes is an inspection, a sanction or an accident record: the deaths here come from Spanish-language press, which names the mine (El Mochito, El Corpus) often enough to join a formal-mine death to its operator, so every count is a floor.
Looking for US mine enforcement instead? See MSHA violations by operator. · Mexico's record · Colombia's record · The Dominican Republic's record
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The current layer's estado is the stage: Explotar (a mining concession) or Explorar (an exploration concession); it does not say whether the title is granted or applied for.175 concessions and applications held by 122 named concessionaires in the Catastro_Minero_2026 layer (last refreshed Sep 15, 2026), synced weekly; the layer carries no dates, no minerals and no place, which the 2020 layer supplies where the code and name match.
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A row in the Concesiones_Mineras_2020 layer, the only one with registration dates, minerals and places; its 950 features fold to about 700 records because a multi-part polygon repeats its code.ⓘ
Rows the 2020 layer classes Artesanal Metálica or Artesanal No Metálica: concessions held by artisanal miners' groups, the closest thing Honduras publishes to an artisanal register.Registration dates from 1938 to Jan 7, 2021, minerals, municipalities and departments, from the Concesiones_Mineras_2020 layer (last refreshed Sep 15, 2026); the 2023 layer adds a stage and a department to the years between.
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Counted from press headlines only; Honduras publishes no official per-fatality mining record, so the true number is at least this.ⓘ
Events the headline itself places in an artisanal, informal or illegal working (güiriseros), as against a named company's mine.Spanish-language headlines naming Honduran mines and places from 2014 to Jun 7, 2026, read daily through Google News (last pull Sep 15, 2026) and classified by a language model against the headline's own words.
INHGEOMIN inspects mines and publishes nothing; the Secretaría de Trabajo publishes no inspections or sanctions; the IHSS publishes no occupational-accident series; environmental sanctions exist only as press releases; and the IAIP transparency portal that holds every institution's paper trail answers 403 from outside Honduras. One request under the Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública is drafted: INHGEOMIN's mine inspections, accident notifications and sanctions, 2014 to date.
Drafted, not yet filed. The SIELHO request system is unreachable from abroad, so the route is email to INHGEOMIN's Oficial de Información Pública or a filing from a browser inside Honduras. This line changes to a ticket number and an answer date the day it is filed.
“Minero muere soterrado en El Corpus, Choluteca”
“Joven pierde la vida al interior de la mina “El Mochito” en Santa Bárbara”
“Minero muere repentinamente cuando laboraba en mina El Mochito en Santa Bárbara”
“Trabajador muere dentro de la mina El Mochito, en Las Vegas, Santa Bárbara”
“Persiste búsqueda de ocho mineros atrapados”
“Ellos son los ocho mineros hondureños que siguen soterrados”
“Se esfuma la esperanza de los ocho mineros hondureños atrapados”
“Honduras: Mañana inicia operación para recuperar cuerpos de mineros”
“Encuentran sin vida el cuerpo de uno de los mineros en El Corpus”
“Al menos tres personas están soterradas en mina Cuculmeca”
“Angustia en El Corpus, Choluteca por accidente en mina”
“Honduras recibe apoyo internacional para rescatar a los mineros”
Every event is one press item read by a language model: the sentence shown is the headline's own words, the holder link exists only where the headline names a cadastre concessionaire exactly, and a death at a named mine (El Mochito) joins while a death in an artisanal working (El Corpus, San Juan Arriba) does not.
| Class | Stage | Concessions | Holders | Hectares | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Metálica | exploit | 75 | 66 | 23,954 | |
| No Metálica | explore | 59 | 36 | 15,710 | |
| Metálica | explore | 29 | 15 | 30,030 | |
| Metálica | exploit | 12 | 12 | 33,064 |
Class (metallic or non-metallic) and stage (explore or exploit) as the current layer prints them; the 2020 layer's finer classes (small mining, artisanal, banco de préstamo) are on the holder pages.
| Department | Concessions | Holders | Mining jobs | Deaths (floor) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olancho | 129 | 63 | 457 | 0 | |
| Choluteca | 106 | 52 | 900 | 5 | |
| Cortes | 84 | 71 | 360 | 0 | |
| Santa Barbara | 56 | 47 | 1,258 | 0 | |
| Comayagua | 52 | 35 | 270 | 0 | |
| Francisco Morazan | 52 | 40 | 994 | 0 | |
| El Paraiso | 37 | 25 | 258 | 0 | |
| Colon | 23 | 20 | 203 | 0 | |
| Yoro | 20 | 18 | 108 | 0 | |
| Atlantida | 17 | 11 | 95 | 0 | |
| Copan | 14 | 7 | 501 | 0 | |
| Valle | 14 | 9 | 378 | 3 | |
| Lempira | 10 | 8 | 47 | 0 | |
| El Paraíso | 8 | 3 | – | 0 | |
| Ocotepeque | 8 | 7 | 41 | 0 | |
| Francisco Morazán | 7 | 4 | – | 0 | |
| Copan Y Lempira | 5 | 5 | – | 0 | |
| Santa Bárbara | 5 | 5 | – | 3 | |
| Santa Barbara Y Lempira | 5 | 4 | – | 0 | |
| Yoro Y Cortes | 5 | 4 | – | 0 |
Dated concessions from the 2020 layer by department (the current layer carries none), mining employment from the UNAH employment layer, and press deaths by the department in the headline.
| Commodity | Concessions | Holders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dentrítico | 97 | 78 | |
| Oro | 85 | 48 | |
| Óxido de Hierro | 29 | 22 | |
| Cobre | 22 | 9 | |
| Plata | 21 | 16 | |
| Caliza | 18 | 18 | |
| Basalto | 13 | 12 | |
| Puzolana | 12 | 9 | |
| Yeso | 10 | 10 | |
| Toba | 7 | 6 | |
| Antimonio | 6 | 5 | |
| Mármol | 5 | 5 | |
| Arcillas | 2 | 2 | |
| Detrítico | 2 | 2 |
Each mineral the 2020 layer names on a concession, counted once per concession; a concession naming five minerals counts under each.
| Concessionaire | 2026 cadastre | Dated records | Press accidents | Minerals | Departments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galsa, S. de R.L | 10 | 3 | 0 | Dentrítico | Choluteca |
| Dise�os Y Construcciones Sandoval (DICONSSA) | 10 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Argos Honduras S. A. DE C.V | 6 | 1 | 0 | Comayagua | |
| Grupo Olancho Recursos S. de R.L | 5 | 5 | 0 | Oro | Olancho |
| Golden Spark, S.A | 5 | 4 | 0 | Olancho | |
| Minera Sierra Verde S. de R.L | 4 | 4 | 0 | Oro y Plata; Oro, Cobre | Lempira Y Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Y Lempira |
| Minerales de Occidente S.A. de C.V | 3 | 5 | 0 | Oro, Plata | Copan |
| Ercome S.A | 3 | 4 | 0 | Basalto; Dentrítico; Toba y Basalto | Cortes, Cortes Y Santa Barbara |
| Productora de Agregados y Derivados de Concreto S.A. de C.V | 3 | 3 | 0 | Dentrítico | Cortes, Francisco Morazan |
| Asociaci�n de Balastreros y Constructores de Atl�ntida "ABACTLAN" | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Empresa Minera La Victoria S.A. DE C.V | 2 | 6 | 0 | Óxido de Hierro | Atlantida, Olancho |
| Five Stars Mining, S.A de C.V | 2 | 4 | 0 | Óxido de Hierro; Puzolana; Yeso | Francisco Morazan |
| Barro Mining S.A de C.V | 2 | 3 | 0 | Oro, Plata y Cobre; Oro, Plata, Cobre | El Paraiso |
| CONHSA PAYHSA S.A. de C.V | 2 | 3 | 0 | Dentrítico | Cortes |
| Canteras de Honduras S.A. de C.V | 2 | 2 | 0 | Basalto y Andesita; Dentrítico | Cortes, Francisco Morazan |
| Harry Stephen Panting Zelaya | 2 | 2 | 0 | Dentrítico; Óxido de Hierro | Cortes |
| Inversiones Mineras Lara | 2 | 2 | 0 | Antimonio | Olancho |
| Jose Gabriel Duarte | 2 | 2 | 0 | Toba | Cortes |
| Minas Azules, S. de R.L | 2 | 2 | 0 | Oro, Cobre | Lempira, Santa Barbara Y Lempira |
| Alquileres de Maquinaria Pesada y de Agricultura Midence | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| MINERALES Y TRITURADO ODESSA,S.A. DE C.V | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Green Global Investment S.A | 1 | 6 | 0 | Oro; Oro, Plata | Choluteca, El Paraiso Y Olancho, Olancho, Valle |
| Minas y Extracciones S.A. de C.V | 1 | 6 | 0 | Óxido de Hierro | Colon, Copan, Yoro |
| Constructora y Transportes Mary S. de R.L. de C.V | 1 | 4 | 0 | Santa Barbara, Santa Bárbara | |
| Infraestructura y Servicios Publicos "INSEP" | 0 | 14 | 0 | Choluteca, Comayagua, Copan, Cortes, El Paraiso, El Paraíso, Lempira, Lempira, Copan, Santa Barbara | |
| American Pacific Honduras S.A | 1 | 3 | 0 | Oro, Plata, Plomo, Óxido de Hierro y Cobre | Choluteca, Santa Barbara |
| Profesionales de la Construccion S.A. de C.V. (PRODECON) | 1 | 3 | 0 | Dentrítico | Cortes, Francisco Morazan |
| SOCIEDAD MERCANTIL MAQUINARIA Y PROYECTOS S.A. (MYPSA) | 1 | 3 | 0 | Dentrítico | El Paraiso, Francisco Morazan |
| Cementos del Norte S.A | 1 | 2 | 0 | Caliza | Cortes |
| Jorge Alberto Salguero Barrera | 1 | 2 | 0 | Ocotepeque |
Ranked by press events, current concessions and dated records. Every concessionaire has a page; this table shows the top of the ranking.
INHGEOMIN cadastre on the UNAH GeoServer (territoriosenriesgo.unah.edu.hn, WFS) — Catastro_Minero_2023: 246 records, fetched Sep 15, 2026. →
INHGEOMIN cadastre on the UNAH GeoServer (territoriosenriesgo.unah.edu.hn, WFS) — Catastro_Minero_2026: 175 records, fetched Sep 15, 2026. →
INHGEOMIN cadastre on the UNAH GeoServer (territoriosenriesgo.unah.edu.hn, WFS) — Concesiones_Mineras_2020: 701 records, fetched Sep 15, 2026. →
UNAH GeoServer (territoriosenriesgo.unah.edu.hn, WFS) — empleo_energia_mineria: 18 records, fetched Sep 15, 2026. →
All layers are read over anonymous WFS from the UNAH GeoServer as GeoJSON in EPSG:4326 (the 2026 layer is natively UTM 16N; its class field arrives with the accent lost at source and the two known values are repaired); the press through Google News RSS. The weekly sync also reads the server's capabilities so a new cadastre year is noticed.