Free Republic

Venezuela said it will offer a joint venture to Russian-owned miner Rusoro (RML.V: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to operate the Las Cristinas and Brisas gold projects, currently under contract to two Canadian companies, Mining minister Rodolfo Sanz on Thursday. He told a Russian delegation that a memorandum of understanding would soon be signed with Rusoro. It appeared that Sanz intends to replace the Canadian companies who operate the projects that contain some of Latin America's largest gold deposits, with Rusoro, but he did not mention their names. Las Cristinas is currently operated by Canada's Crystallex (KRY.TO: Quote, Profile, Research,...

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....