Aragón grants Rocaragón the El Dorado mining permit in Calatayud

The Government of Aragon has granted the company Rocaragón, SL the mining exploration permit named “El Dorado” number 3,591, which covers 315 mining grids across ten municipalities in the province of Zaragoza. The resolution was issued on July 2, 2026, by the Provincial Service of Zaragoza and is made public in the Official Gazette of Aragon on September 29, 2026, number 189, with the official reference BOA20260929023.

The announcement is published in compliance with the provisions of articles 61.1 and 101.5 of the General Regulations for the Mining Regime, approved by Royal Decree 2857/1978, of August 25. The competent body is the Department of Economy, Competitiveness and Employment of the Government of Aragon, through its Provincial Service of Zaragoza, whose director, Ana Elena Romero Aznar, signed the announcement in Zaragoza on September 3, 2026.

A perimeter of 315 grids in ten municipalities

The “El Dorado” permit number 3,591 covers an area of 315 mining grids distributed among the following municipal districts, all within the province of Zaragoza:

• Calatayud
• El Frasno
• Santa Cruz de Grío
• Villalba de Perejil
• Sediles
• Belmonte de Gracián
• Morata de Jalón
• Paracuellos de la Ribera
• Orera
• Tobed

Most of these towns are part of the Calatayud region and the surroundings of the Grío river valley and the Vicor mountain range, an area with a mining and agricultural tradition.

Manganese, copper, lead and zinc

The resolution authorizes the exploration of all resources in Section C), with express mention of manganese, copper, lead, and zinc mineralizations. These are metallic substances for which the authorization competence belongs to the autonomous community, according to the general mining regime.

The full content of the resolution, as well as the location map of the exploration permit, are available on the official page of the Department of Economy, Competitiveness and Employment of the Government of Aragon, at the address https://www.aragon.es/-/mineria.

Third permit for the same company in three months

“El Dorado” is not an isolated case. Rocaragón, SL has obtained two other exploration permits in Aragon in recent weeks, both consisting of 288 mining grids:

• The “Antillón” permit number 6.645, granted by resolution of the director of the Provincial Service of Teruel, Lucía Villalba Valenzuela, on July 17, 2026, for manganese, copper, lead, zinc, and other resources, in the municipal districts of Segura de Baños, Montalbán, Vivel del Río Martín, La Hoz de la Vieja, and Martín del Río (Teruel). It was published in the Official Gazette of Aragon on September 9, 2026, number 175, reference BOA20260909019.
• The “El Estrecho” permit number 3592, granted by resolution of the Director General of Energy and Mines, María Yolanda Vallés Cases, on September 8, 2026, for copper, lead, and zinc, in Santa Eulalia de Gállego, Murillo de Gállego, El Frago, and Luna (Zaragoza) and Agüero (Huesca). It was published in the Official Gazette of Aragon on September 17, 2026, number 181, reference BOA20260917010.

Altogether, the company has accumulated exploration authorizations for more than 890 mining grids in the provinces of Zaragoza, Teruel, and Huesca in just three months.

Exploration, not exploitation

The permit granted is for exploration, a legal figure that enables the investigation of the existence and viability of mineral resources, but not their extraction. The publication in the Official Gazette of Aragon reports the administrative act and opens the way for public consultation of the file and the demarcation map.

The official announcement does not detail the work schedule, the planned investments, nor the environmental measures associated with the project.

The authorization affects an extensive territory of a markedly rural character, with ten municipalities involved and a surface area that far exceeds that of previous permits from the same company. The interest in manganese, copper, lead, and zinc responds to the context of European demand for critical raw materials, which anticipates neighborhood and institutional monitoring of the development of exploration work in the Calatayud region.

Source: Official Gazette of Aragon, number 189, of September 29, 2026, section V. Announcements, b) Other announcements (official reference: BOA20260929023).