The Board grants Leonstone the Carmen slate concession in Encinedo

The General Directorate of Energy and Mines of the Regional Government of Castilla y León has granted the company Leonstone S.L. the direct concession for the exploitation of the «Carmen» slate mine no. 15.278, located in the municipality of Encinedo, in the province of León. The resolution, dated September 1, 2026, is signed by the general director José Alberto Castro Cañibano and is published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León (BOCYL) no. 184, corresponding to September 22, 2026, with the official reference BOCYL-D-22092026-184-17. The title covers resources from section C)—slate— over an area of ten mining grids.

Legal framework and competent body

The case is resolved under article 65 of Law 22/1973, of July 21, on Mining, amended by Law 54/1980, of November 5, and article 86 of the General Regulations for the Mining Regime, approved by Royal Decree 2857/1978, of August 25. Competence corresponds to the general director of Energy and Mines according to article 40.f of Law 3/2001, of July 3, of the Government and Administration of Castilla y León, and article 9 of Decree 14/2026, of June 29, on the organic structure of the Department of Environment and Energy.

The processing has followed articles 63 to 66 of the Mining Law and 84 to 87 of the Regulations, with attention to Law 21/2013, of December 9, on environmental assessment, Royal Decree 975/2009, of June 12, on extractive industry waste, and Royal Decree 863/1985, of April 2, on mining safety.

A case opened in the 2018 public tender

• March 1, 2018: resolution of the General Directorate of Energy and Mines declaring lands free and calling for the XIX Public Tender for mining rights in the province of León.
• May 15, 2018: the Territorial Delegation of León registers the «Carmen» concession no. 15.278, requested by Leonstone S.L., and begins its processing in accordance with article 85 of the Regulations.
• February 18, 2021: the Territorial Service of Industry, Trade and Economy of León classifies the resource in section C) and declares the final admission of the application.
• July 23, 2021: the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain issues a favorable report.
• June 16, 2026: report from the Mining Service; on June 24 and 29, the hearing procedures are held without any recorded allegations.
• August 27, 2026: favorable proposal from the Mining Service for the granting.

Overlap with pre-existing mining rights

The concession overlaps with the exploitation authorizations of section A) “Carbajal de la Romana” no. 302, “El Picón” no. 234, and “Aurora” no. 219. Leonstone S.L. is the holder of the first two, which the new concession largely overlaps. The resolution declares the incompatibility of works between “Carmen” and those two section A) areas of the company, with section C) prevailing in the overlapping zones; conversely, in the overlaps with “Aurora” no. 219, the previously acquired rights prevail.

Until the communication of the start of works, operations will continue to be carried out under the authorizations of section A), with their current projects and restoration plans. From that moment on, the same operations cannot be executed simultaneously on the same surface and resource.

Conditions, guarantees, and pending procedures

The granting does not entail the approval of new exploitation projects nor does it authorize operations other than those already included in the current projects of “El Picón” no. 234 and “Carbajal de la Romana” no. 302. The resolution requires the submission of a new Exploitation Project, Environmental Impact Study, and Restoration Plan that integrates the entirety of the planned operations.

• Financial guarantees considered sufficient: 1,789,427.19 euros for “Carbajal de la Romana” no. 302 and 1,333,536.75 euros for “El Picón” no. 234.
• Prohibition of extracting slate outside the authorized limits and the obligation to obtain prior authorization for infrastructure (tracks, waste dumps, or excavations) outside the perimeters.
• Serious non-compliance with the deadlines, form, and intensity of the works may lead to the expiration of the mining right, in accordance with article 109 j) of the Regulation.
• The applicant must settle the Transfer Tax and Documented Legal Acts Tax before the Tax Administration of Castilla y León within 15 days of notification.
• An administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed against the resolution, which does not exhaust the administrative route, before the Vice-Ministry of Environment and Energy within one month.

The granting consolidates in section C) a slate exploitation that until now was supported by section A) authorizations and which Leonstone S.L. has been developing in Encinedo since the 2018 public tender. The resolution sets the conditions for the continuity of the operations and obliges the company to process a new exploitation project with its environmental impact study, which conditions the environmental and labor future of the extractive activity in the Leonese municipality.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla y León, no. 184, September 22, 2026, I. Community of Castilla y León – D. Other Provisions, pp. 113-119 (official reference: BOCYL-D-22092026-184-17).