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The Cuban regime formalized on Wednesday the concession for the exploitation and processing of gold and copper to the Cuban-Australian commercial company Minera La Victoria S.A. in the area known as Nueva Sabana, Baraguá municipality, Ciego de Ávila province, with a validity period of 20 years.
The Agreement 9902, published in the Official Gazette No. 4 Special Edition of 2026, was adopted on June 3, 2024, and signed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, although its official publication occurred today.
The document grants Minera La Victoria S.A. the exclusive right to exploit and process minerals in a total area of 752.20 hectares: 751.20 ha allocated for exploitation and one hectare for processing.
Ratified by the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, the agreement establishes that "the validity period of the concession granted is twenty years, extendable in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VI, Section Two, Article 24 of Law 76 'Mining Law', dated December 21, 1994, upon explicit request and duly substantiated by the concessionaire."
Minera La Victoria S.A. is a Cuban-Australian joint venture formed by the Cuban state company GeoMinera S.A. and the Australian company Antilles Gold Limited, which is listed on the Australian stock exchange.
In March 2022, Antilles Gold identified three large copper and gold porphyry deposits in the Los Llanos area of Ciego de Ávila, within an area of 212 km², and requested that the corresponding concessions be transferred to Minera La Victoria S.A.
The Nueva Sabana project is the most advanced of the company. In October 2024, Antilles Gold published a prefeasibility study with reserve estimates and a financing plan of 30.9 million dollars, which included a loan of 1.9 million from a Hispanic-Cuban bank and a prepayment of 27 million from an international commodity operator.
Market analysis from April 2026 indicated that the potential commercial launch of Nueva Sabana would be in 2027, contingent upon a high gold price.
The agreement imposes environmental, safety, and institutional coordination obligations on the concessionaire. Among these are obtaining an Environmental License with an Environmental Impact Study from the Environmental Control Directorate of Ciego de Ávila, and informing the Military Region of the province about the work execution schedule.
The text states that "the area of the concession has been harmonized with the interests of national defense and the environment," and specifies that the zone is located in the Itabo surface basin and the CA-II underground basin, upstream of the Sabana Nueva reservoir.
During the term of the concession, the Cuban regime shall not grant another concession for the same minerals within the area.
In February 2025, the Cuban government canceled mining concessions from several companies, including Commercial Caribbean Nickel S.A. and Gold Caribbean Mining S.A., due to expired deadlines or lack of execution, which illustrates the reorganization of the mining sector in which the formalization of this concession is set.
Antilles Gold also operates in La Demajagua, on the Isle of Youth, a project with an estimated potential of 720,000 ounces of gold, the final feasibility of which is expected to be determined in 2027, and which the company plans to finance with the cash flow generated by Nueva Sabana.
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