Venezuela: Bolívar governor to aid mining reconversion plan

The governor of southeastern Venezuela's Bolívar state, Francisco Rangel, has promised former artisan miners from the Sifontes area that he will expedite efforts to find them different jobs as part of a mining reconversion plan the country's government is undertaking. "There is a conflict among miners taking part in the reconversion process because they haven't been able to work in their field," a spokesperson from the Bolívar state government told BNamericas. The plan aims to shut down areas with informal mining, relocate small-scale miners and withdraw concessions in the Caroní river basin and the Sierra Imataca area. The Las Cristinas gold project controlled by Canada's Crystallex International is located in the same zone. Earlier this year, local reports said that the government planned to relocate the artisan miners to the so-called Kilometer 88 deposits where Las Cristinas is located. But the head of Venezuela's mining chamber, Luis Rojas, does not believe the areas will be left to small-scale miners. "There is a very large source of capital there for the nation with a lot of proven reserves. [Small-scale] miners are not going to add value to the deposit. To the contrary, they would destroy it," he said. Rojas does not expect any major solutions in the area. "Reports say there are 2,000 or 3,000 miners at Las Cristinas and mobilizing those people right now is not going to be one of the government's priorities. Maybe after [regional] elections [in November] but not right now," he said. In late August, the ministry of basic industries and mining (Mibam) paid indemnities of more than US$5.2mn to miners from La Paragua who joined the program designed to battle informal mining in the Cuyuni and Caura river basins that are important tributaries to dams used by hydroelectric plants in Venezuela.La Paragua is in the Raúl Leoni area of Bolívar state.