Posted on 09/23/2005 12:36:43 AM PDT by HAL9000
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday his government was cancelling all mining concessions and would not award any new deals to transnational companies as part of a wider sector restructuring."Recently ... we decided, after looking at this and looking at that, to cancel all mining concessions. We will not give any more concessions to transnationals," Chavez said in a speech late on Wednesday.
Left-winger Chavez has launched a broad campaign to review energy and mineral contracts signed by Venezuela before he first won office in 1998. He says some of the deals are robbing the world's No. 5 oil exporter of its natural resources.
"(This) is to recuperate the national power, the sovereignty to manage our resources," he said.
Among major foreign companies mining in Venezuela are Canada's Crystallex, Bolivar Gold, US firm Hecla Mining and China's Shandong Gold-Mining.
Hecla is the country's largest and most active gold producer.
Crystallex has been waiting for an environmental permit to build a mine on the Las Cristinas deposit, one of the world's largest undeveloped gold projects.
Chavez had said on Tuesday the government would create a new state mining company, modelled after state oil firm PDVSA, in the Las Cristinas region.
But Crystallex Chief Executive Todd Bruce said earlier on Wednesday there was no change in the status of the Las Cristinas project or the firm's contract to operate a mine there.
Government officials previously said they would revoke some inactive gold and diamond mining concessions and would not issue new ones.
Chavez, who says his self-proclaimed socialist revolution is an alternative to the failures of capitalist policies in South America, has ordered oil firms to shift from operating contracts to joint ventures giving PDVSA a controlling stake in projects.
The government has also raised taxes and royalties on other oil projects operated by foreign firms in a measure to increase government revenues from the energy sector.
Hecla ----WAS---- the country's largest and most active gold producer.
Thank you very much for your excellent research and prospecting and filing your claims indicating exactly where the minerals out. Here's your Hat, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Will some Venezuelan who cares about his country please put this clown to bed?!
Can you dig it, Hugo?
He will have to dig it... himself with a shovel and pick axe.
If everyone pulled out, he'd soon learn just how piss poor his country is, and unable to do the simplest of tasks-thanks to his commie ways.
I guess he prefers Socialist failure to Capitalist failure. After all Socialist failure produces more poverty, misery and death.
Who is John Gualt?
Sounds like Hugo has taken a page from the National Socialist party. He's going to "nationalize" all industry and resources.
"How to destroy your country in ten easy steps".
Step #3 repudiate contracts.
After commie Chavez kicks out the capitalists, he'll need to set up gulags to find workers for the mines. This is the Stalinist model.
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