.......i wonder how many people realize that Las Cristinas is a very large zone and Crystallex will be operating only on a small part of it where they found the gold that is.
The other parts are where the the small miners are still mining .
December 30, 2008 – 1:09 am Venezuela may withdraw a few concessions for gold mining, which previous governments have provided to private companies. At this step the authorities can go because of falling oil prices, which greatly hurts the income of state, reported Associated Press
President Hugo Chavez did not name specific contracts or the names of companies that are working on gold mines of Venezuela, But one of his ministers have vowed to nationalize next year’s biggest gold deposit Las Cristinas, which manages the Canadian mining company Crystallex International Corp.
“We get some concessions, which issued the previous government and whose permission is still supported by some rich people. We do so in order to reduce dependence on oil “, - said Chavez.
94% of exports of Venezuelan oil, the proceeds of its sales abroad form about half the country’s budget. Experts believe that it is not enough prospected gold will not be able to compete with oil.
Canadian Crystallex entered into a contract to develop Las Cristinas deposit in 2002, but was forced to suspend work after the Ministry of Environment of Venezuela withdrew its permission to work in May this year.
Venezuela produced about 4.2 tons of gold last year, and Chavez hopes to double that number in the next. In addition to gold, to replenish the budget, according to Chavez, must supply the world market for cocoa and its products recently nationalized steel and cement companies. Venezuela also is rich in diamonds, alumina and other minerals.
