Ciudad Bolivar, 24 Nov. AVN .- The State-owned Mining Company of Venezuela (Minerven) manages a project for the comprehensive upgrading of its equipment and expansion of operations, enabling it to produce more than 8,000 kilos of gold per year from 2011 .

This was announced by president of this company supervised by the Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana (CVG), Luis Herrera, who noted that this plan will be financed with resources from the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).

Herrera said the plan will be implemented in 100 days and aims primarily to level the production of different plants affected by the lack of spare parts and technological obsolescence.

"These problems have been reduced 50% of our production capacity, leaving at 4,500 kilos a year, but hope to return investment to the level we had just two or three years," he said.

He noted that the loan requested the BCV reaches $ 300 million and will purchase and install the parts that require equipment mining, milling and transport of ore and the acquisition of new high-tech equipment.

"Not only is expected to regain an average yield of 8 tons per year through this plan, but beyond that level and regain first place among the country's gold," he said.

At this point, said that in addition to the alliance with the BCV has bids and proposals of companies from China, Venezuela and the African continent.

Herrera recalled that Minerven was established as a joint venture in 1970 and was nationalized in 1974.

Since then he has operated on deposits granted by the Venezuelan State in the town of El Callao, in southern Bolivar state.

The metal produced by Minerven is poured into ingots of 7.5 kilos, with a purity rate of between 70 and 85%.

"50% of our production is sold directly to the BCV, under current legislation, while 25% is sold on the international market", he said.

The remaining 25% is sold on the domestic market, especially the gold sector, activity which is home to many artisans located in El Callao and neighboring communities.

He explained that just two years the company managed the mines Colombia, Sosa Méndez, Revemin and La Camorra, the latter three operated by private companies.

"Our first actions under the sovereignty miner was rescued Revemin plant, which had a contract with Crystallex expired two years ago," he said.

Subsequently, the plant was rescued La Camorra, currently operating a Venezuelan-Russian joint venture, and the Sosa Méndez mine.

"They were also 3,000 hectares of land reclaimed gold, which passed the state company to manage some 41,000 hectares for 2009," said Herrera.