Opposition broadsheet El Nacional reports that the government is studying a proposal that the exploitation of gold should be used only to bolster international reserves. Reporter Eduardo Mendez Sanchez claims that unidentified sources have told him that the government's objective is to centralize gold mining through the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG) subsidiary CVG-Minerven and that the Environment Ministry has placed a temporary embargo on permits for private companies to conduct mining operations pending the establishment of Venezuela's new economic model to govern exploitation of the country's vast resources.

Meanwhile both the Ministry of Basic Industries & Mines (Mibam) and the Environment Ministry (Minamb) are engaged in a series of meetings to determine the exact coordinates of those areas that will be allowed to conduct open pit mining.

Although ministry officials were not available to confirm the information, Mendez Sanchez quotes a source as saying that "the government has little interest in foreign companies continue taking the gold" and that the aim is for gold to be extracted by Venezuelan workers, that it should remain in Venezuela and and go to the Central Bank."

The government's main argument is that Venezuela's oil industry and tax revenues are sufficient to disregard revenues that could be generate gold exploitation unless it is sufficiently justified from an economic point of view.

Currently there are four companies involved in gold mining in cooperation with the CVG. Russian Russoro/PMG is operating normally El Choco 10 and MS. Operations at Isidora (El Callao Gold Mining/Hecla) were suspended until further notice by order of the Ministry of Basic Industries and Canadian Crystallex and Gold Reserve have been denied environmental permission after waiting for three years.

Las Cristinas and Las Brisas (Crystallex and Gold Reserve) are in an area of the jungle that forms the Imataca Forest Reserve where all open cast mining has been banned, according to officials from the Environment Ministry.

Legal and economic experts believe that mining by private companies will be limited until the government approves the new Mining Law (expected to be discussed and approved by the National Assembly later this month) which govern mining activities and provides the legal instrument to repeal an outdated system of concessions and establish an economic model of joint ventures in which the State, via the CVG, will have the majority shareholding.

Meanwhile redundant workers at US Hecla's El Callao Gold Mining have called on the Minister of Basic Industries & Mining, Rodolfo Sanz as well as the president of CVG-Minerven, Luis Herrera to authorize the reactivation of the mine and have ordered 30 workers at the Isidora site to lift their labor blockade.

Hecla labor representative Sander Guilarte says the government should allow labor problems to be resolved directly between management and workers without any necessity to suspend mining operations. He admits that there are serious labour problems, some miners have been forced to strip naked to show that not carrying gold "in the intimate parts", but he acknowledges that the company has been receptive when asked to suspend the practice.

"There are still things that must be resolved, but that does not mean that the operation of the mine be suspended," he said.