Hugo Chavez Looking For Outside Investment

Despite Venezuela having a fair number of gold anomalies, output is low. The country produced about 11 tonnes last year, with illegal mining producing about the same amount. President Chavez wants to do something about it, so he's makiing gold "strategic" and inviting outside investors in. His aim is to ramp up production of the metal.

Venezuela will seek investment in the country’s gold industry to boost production of the metal as illegal miners account for almost half the country’s output....

“The gold mafia is taking it, and the state has to act,” Chavez said today on state television. “We have to look for investors to increase production with a new vision. We can’t just depend on one company.”

This call might be a trap, even though Vancouver-based Rusoro Mining Ltd. is producing gold there unmolested. (In fact, it expects to quadruple output now that export restrictions are being eased.) Crystallex had a huge gold property in Venezuela that was recently seized by the Venezuelan government. Despite Chavez's words, Venezuela's political risk is still high.