The latest round of speculation out of Venezuela is that the country wants to make all gold mining in the country state-owned.

According to a Bloomberg report from this morning, Venezuela newspaper, El Nacional, reported that Venezuala plans on eliminating private gold mining and have all extraction of the metal contribute to the country's reserves. El Nacional cited an unidentified official in the Environment Ministry as making the comment.

If rumour turns to truth, state-ownership in Venezuela would certainly impact TSX-traded miners, Crystallex International Corp. and Gold Reserve Inc., both of whom were told recently their mining permits have been denied.

Crystallex shares were unchanged at 84¢ around 10:30 a.m. ET, while Gold Reserve stock was trading slightly higher, up more than 1% or 2¢ to $1.96.

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