Russian company to run Venezuela’s biggest gold mine

Russians gained access to a world largest gold mine Las Cristinas located in Venezuela, reports the Kommersant newspaper. The Venezuela’s government and Rusoro Mining Company formed a joint venture named Venrus to develop the gold field with estimated reserves of 35.2 million ounces. However, there is an unsolved dispute concerning the license to operate the gold mine, currently owned by Canadian Crystallex International. Crystallex invested US$114 million in the project and fully completed engineering works, when in November of 2008 the Venezuela’s government announced Las Cristinas is to be nationalized. The company expected to launch production of 252 thousand ounces per year in 2010. Rusoro Mining operates several gold mines with 12.8-million-ounce reserves in Venezuela."