The new mining law doesn't seem to address my single greatest concern, and that is who will pay to build new mines where the majority owner is the Venezuelan government.

Taking majority interests in existing projects and then simply declaring what the government will pay for their "share" is one thing but starting a new project from scratch is another.

In a normal JV the partners agree on the cost sharing up front and make formal agreements as to how the progressive payments will occur, backed up by letters of credit, loan agreements or similar.

However can you envisage a company ordering a few hundred million dollars worth of imported mining machinery on the hope that Chavez's government will cough up with their share of the money when it falls due? They can't even produce simple paper work to any reasonable timetable. Building a mine from scratch with the government as the majority partner will be a nightmare.