Natalie Garci'a
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Photo William Urdaneta

The Mibam apparently this year yes will take action to relaunch the sector aluminum

Besides this plan of reordering and reversion of some concessions at the hands of the Venezuelan State, Sanz spoke of the situation in the companies of aluminum and the measures to take in the next days. In case outside little it offered some numbers of companies like CVG Ferrominera Orinoco, on which it announced that four hundred forty and two thousands in 2008 increased the production of pellets of 1 million 26 thousands in 2007 to 1 million.

As far as CVG Minerven, located in the Pebble, it said that there was an increase of the 4 percent in relation to the 2007 and that 1,206 kilos of the production were deposited in the Central bank of Venezuela.

It explained that in the south of the region they have assumed the control of mines like Isidora, the Camorra, and the Revemin company, which were in the hands of transnational.

In relation to the ecological damages in kilometer 88 and the rest of the territory, it expressed the following thing: “I have flown over the zone and the truth is that the destruction of the artisan mining, of the nomadic mining is highest. We have already raised, and this has approved it president Hugo Chavez, that we must make a process of industrialization of all the processing of strategic minerals, not only the gold”.

Location of the reserves
Sanz added that “already we know where they are our diamond reserves, in Santa Elena de Uairén, municipality Great Savannah, and Guaniamo, Cedeño municipality, our studies of geologic prospection indicate that there a Kimberlítica chimney can exist, that is a diamond formation that allows us to make an operation of the industrial process. We already know where they are our minerals that are used for ferro-alloys, neobio, tantalum, are in the border between Amazon and Bolivar. We already know where it is the uranium”.

On the other hand, it commented that “this year we are going to complete the data base of strategic minerals, in a process of certification of our reserves”, added to this, maintained that the project the Cristinas that has “31 million proven ounces of gold is valued in about 33 billions of dollars, reserves for which the country can secure internal financing, because companies that been have interested in the operation have quoted permanently in the bags of the foreigner and secured resources with base in the mineral reserves gold of the country”.

There it announced that “we are going to take Guaniamo, within to 15 we will occupy it days, we are going to locate the plant of diamond processing. Also, the State also is going to exert sovereign control in the Cristinas”.

With respect to Guaniamo, that is considered one the more important diamond deposits of South America, from the 2004 company that administers the concession has the payable permissions and, for this reason, the mine must return the nation. Besides the national diamantífera company, Sanz commented the creation of the District Diamantífero de Guaniamo.

“Sovereign” control
As far as the Cristinas, located in the Claritas to the south of Bolivar and administered by Crystallex, transnational a Canadian, the State does not finish authorizing the due environmental leave for its operation. The data contributed by east Sanz Monday throw that there are “31 million proven ounces of gold, which would represent the present price of gold about 32, 33 billions of dollars, reserve against which financing external because those that been have interested in this deposit they have quoted permanently in stock market abroad, and secured resources with base in the gold mineral reserves can be obtained that we have in the country. We have always asked ourselves, and president Chávez has said to it, if companies have been able foreign it to do why the Venezuelan State cannot do it if they are reserves of the State”.

Leaving to a side the mining of gold and the diamond Rodolfo Sanz aluminum spoke of the sector and, although this time its approach was not as dramatic it showed as it to his arrival to the position with that one phrase, “the companies of aluminum have arrived at the llegadero”, yes it admitted again that they cross by “a difficult” situation and that it leaves from this is motivated by the world-wide crisis.

Coming meetings
“The sector aluminum has a difficult situation, we did not stop recognizing it because our production costs are over the 3,500 dollars by ton, and the steep fall of locates it to the prices to 1,550 dollars by ton, so that they are companies that are selling below the production costs, we have world-wide a difficult situation that we are facing”, assured the holder the Mibam.

For those who had doubts of the actions to take by the Mibam, Sanz announced that “next we are going to develop a set of meetings with the union leadership, with the workers, to try to look for a basic solution that indeed takes to us to make productive investments in the plant and to take care of some vindications of the workers. I believe that there she will have to prevail brings back to consciousness much of the workers to understand that the situation was generated in the scene of the world-wide crisis, that we must face it everything in common agreement and we cannot play the failure of the companies”.

He assured, in addition, that “we must have brings back to consciousness of which some sacrifices will be necessary to make to try a structural process of reordering of the companies of the sector aluminum”. With this he leaves the possibility so feared for some union leaders open, whom already they have foretold more than “difficult” times for a sector that moves about 16 thousand direct uses.

Projects in 2009

Rodolfo Sanz informed that this 2009 begin industrial projects of great importance, among them, four sawmills and one structural board factory, that will use the plantations of Pine the Caribbean de Proforca, which said “is controlled and no longer it produces losses”.

“This years we go to important investments, we go to an iron and steel plan that attacks the rest of the basic industries. For September we will already have to be inaugurating the cement plant Blue Hill, we are doing that it in agreement with the Iranians in Monagas. We must advance a 45% of development of the plant of aluminum lamination in Caicara of the Orinoco - Cedeño- municipality… we must arrive at the 80 percent of the plant of Concentration of Iron Mineral in City To cheep, that is a tremendous plant”.

It added that “we are going to give the advance payment of 120 million dollars to initiate the construction of the new iron and steel in City To cheep. In Sidor we are going to invest near 200 million dollars in lime plant, plant of pellets and in H&L”.