Venezuela's Chavez To Seek Changes To New Mining Law

13 days ago

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez will soon send a draft of a new mining law back to lawmakers for changes before he gives a final approval, a senior lawmaker said Tuesday.

"We're waiting for a final draft of the new mining law and that could happen soon," Angel Rodriguez, head of the congressional energy and mining commission, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Rodriguez said Chavez would supposedly approve the law eventually but gave no timetable. He couldn't confirm if the latest draft still includes previously announced plans to force all mining companies into joint ventures with the government. "I haven't seen the final draft yet, but we will know this soon," he said.

Chavez is expected to approve the mining law as well as a host of other laws using special presidential powers that congress gave him in January 2007.

The presidential powers allow Chavez to approve laws without necessarily consulting congress.

Under his term in office, Chavez has placed restrictions on the mining of gold and diamonds and recently also nationalized Sidor, the country's largest steel mill. Sidor was controlled by Ternium (TX) a unit of Argentine-Italian conglomerate Techint.

Previous Chavez administration officials have openly voiced plans to force all domestic and foreign mining companies into joint ventures with the state, following a similar model to the one used in the oil sector.

-By Raul Gallegos; Dow Jones Newswires; +58-212-564-1339; raul.gallegos@dowjones.com