VHeadline Venezuela News reports: Employees at Crystallex' (former) Revemin-Mineras Bonanzas are enjoying new benefits after the takeover of the El Callao plant by the Venezuelan State. The return of the mining concession took place in October 2008, and since then, the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG) gold mining subsidiary CVG-Minerven has assumed the administration and recovery of their mineral processing capacity.
Dennis Ramirez, secretary general of the Revemin union Sintrarevemin, acknowledges essential improvements and changes and says "we endorse CVG-Minerven's actions ... we've had substantial improvements in production and food bonuses and other contractual benefits thanks to the work of CVG-Minerven president Luis Herrera to push the change from (Crystallex) Mineras Bonanzas-Revemin back into the hands of CVG-Minerven."
Before becoming part of the CVG holding company, Crystallex-Revemin workers had low wages, not to mention unsafe working conditions in different areas; all of this was denounced by Ramirez who, together with his workmates, endured a fierce struggle with Crystallex to keep the plant open. Once the bitter end (with Crystallex) was achieved, he says it's now time to reap the reward and to show that the company (CVG-Revemin) is producing more thanks to recently-implemented changes in conveyor belts and equipment maintenance. He says that everything has accomplished in record time following Revemin's return to State control: "Substantially, the reversal process took eleven days to take the plant back to State control in such a way that all the 141 workers immediately started to receive the benefits we enjoy now."
"Crystallex used to pay very low wages ... an average of BsF.28 ($13) a day, andAs for a trade union unification, proposed by the southern miners, Sintrarevemin's Dennis Ramirez says that it will certainly strengthen both CVG-Minerven and the unions although a standard mining contract "is something we have discussed, although we haven't reached any concrete consensus on the subject."
now it's BsF.40 ($18.60) ... in other cases it was greater ... from BsF.700
($325.60) a month to BsF.1,600 ($744.20) ... and, besides, the workplace is
different now, safer, cleaner and more pleasant than when it was run by
Crystallex."
Despite this, Ramirez told reporters that not everything is a bed of roses and that the union must continue an appeal to force Crystallex to settle a series of debts left behind from their involvement in Revemin-Mineras Bonanzas. Among the most affected is a group of nurses who have not received back pay for weekend overtime and meal bonuses.
CVG-Minerven operations supervisor Francisco Gonzalez says that the company now runs two conveyor belts which had the belts replaced to improve performance, and that mineral processing has been increased from 400 to 1,200/1,500 tonnes per day. As for environmental issues, dust emissions controls for activated carbon used to increase gold recovery have been enhanced and water used in the process is repeatedly recycled.
Industrial Safety inspector Jessica Hurtado says that since the takeover from Crystallex last October there have been no accidents, and that this, in itself, is a great achievement.
CVG-Minerven's plant manager Emir Rojas says that what has happened at CVG-Revemin is outstanding, and that what surprised him most was the mature behaviour of the union at the moment when Revemin was taken out of Crystallex' control back into State hands ... he says that this is evidence on its own that CVG-Minerven will keep doing their best to improve Revemin and to allow for maximum recovery from mineral processing.
- Crystallex vice president A. Richard Marshall in Atlanta was this morning unavailable for comment.
news.desk@vheadline.com
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