Venezuela will close 2008 with large reserves of gold, iron and bauxite
MGC
Globovision / AFP
15/12/2008


Venezuela will close 2008 with higher gold reserves (more than 1,000 kilos), iron (14,000 million tonnes) and bauxite (6,000 million tons), said Monday the Venezuelan Minister of Basic Industries and Mining, Rodolfo Sanz.

In an interview with the state Venezolana de Television, Sanz explained that after the implementation of programs for geological prospecting and mining, with Iranian and Cuban specialists, "because we have the complete map of the location of our reserves from gold to uranium."

The state also president of the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG), noted that Venezuela will end this year with an output of 5 tons of gold and four million tonnes of liquid steel, "which translates to 3,800,000 tonnes of various products per year. "

For the minister should be given to the industrial exploitation of minerals, primarily gold and diamonds, above the craft.

Since 2006, Venezuela was preparing a mechanism to repeal the system of temporary mining concessions granted by the government to private companies, and establishing a model of joint ventures where the state has a majority of the capital, as already happens in the exploitation of oil.

According to the government, Venezuela has not closed the doors of this sector to private capital. For example, the Rusoro Russian company, through its subsidiary Promotora Minera Guayana, operates normally in a number of gold deposits in the country.

Sanz has reiterated that talks with President Hugo Chávez on this issue, and included in the list of industrial holdings "uranium for peaceful use."

In late November, Venezuela and Russia signed an agreement to develop nuclear power to meet the needs of the South American country and contribute to the diversification of its sources of energy.