Venezuela Transfers Control of Mining to Government

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez had signed a decree giving the Mines and Energy Ministry control of all existing mining concessions. Mines and Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez says he will revise unlawful and outdated diamond and gold concession contracts.

Concessions in the country are held in the country by the state owned Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) together with other companies such as Canadian gold miner Crystallex International and Hecla Mining of the US.

According to Ramirez, tons of gold and diamonds are mined and smuggled out of the country, costing the country a fortune in lost revenues.

CVG didn’t get a warning of the coming changes, and was caught by surprise. "I don't know anything about it. I can't tell you what it means," CVG's director of mining, Armando John Madero, told Reuters.