SECTOR · MINING
Mining Sector
The mining sector —gold, iron, bauxite and coltan— is Venezuela's second hard-currency axis after oil, centered on the Orinoco Mining Arc and the state-owned CVG.
VE Pulses
04Venezuela opens the week on three fronts: Brazil at the table, a fight over its debt, and the U.S. in its gold mines
Last week the opening produced signatures; now it measures who governs it: whether the table with Brazil leaves deals, whether the debt is awarded on a process not by hand, and under what architecture —with the U.S. inside— the gold flows.
Washington rewrites the rules of Venezuela's oil and gold into a single framework, with an explicit veto on Chinese capital
The opening is no longer a collection of permits but a regime: wider than ever, administered in Washington and revocable with a single signature.
The U.S. blockades Venezuela's sanctioned crude by sea and presses on its oil law, as a Middle East truce cheapens the barrel
Washington controls all four levers of Venezuela's oil revenue —cash, rules, route and now the price— so its record export volume decides less and less.
Venezuela opens its power sector to private capital, sends Rodríguez to India for petrodollars and hires lawyers for its defaulted debt
Venezuela sells its oil at the fastest pace in years, yet opens to private capital the electricity it cannot sustain, seeks capital in India and adds lawyers to its debt rework: the flow grows, the capital to run it does not appear.
Analysis
02Venezuela's Mining Opening: OFAC Reopens Gold to Western Trade — With the Cash in the U.S. Treasury
OFAC's June 10 amendment wave rewrote seven Venezuela licenses. The two mining ones —GL 51B and 54A— authorize trading and servicing Venezuelan gold via CVG Minerven, but route payment through the U.S. Treasury, bar new joint ventures and exclude China.
Mercuria lands in Venezuelan mining with US$5.2 billion pipeline: what a global trader sees that the major miners do not
Verdict: FAVORABLE · Positive outlook. On May 1, 2026, Mercuria Energy Group —one of the five largest global commodity traders, headquartered in Geneva— signed alongside Heeney Capital the first structural offtakes of the Venezuelan mining sector after Maduro's capture: US$2.2 bi
Sector Briefs
01OFAC Licenses
05GL 51B — Trade in Venezuelan-Origin Minerals, Including Gold
Authorizes an established U.S. entity to export, sell, store, purchase, deliver and transport Venezuelan-origin minerals —including gold— in transactions involving the Government of Venezuela and CVG Minerven, including processing and refining. Subject to U.S./allied law and forum and Treasury payment routing. Supersedes GL 51A.
GL 54A — Goods and Services for Minerals Operations in Venezuela
Authorizes the supply from the U.S. or by a U.S. person of goods, technology, software or services for exploration, development, mining, extraction, processing, refining and production of minerals —including gold— in Venezuela, via CVG Minerven. Does NOT authorize forming new mining joint ventures. Supersedes GL 54.
GL 51A — Venezuelan-Origin Gold Transactions
Amended version of GL 51 authorizing transactions with Venezuelan-origin gold under certified chain of custody and quarterly OFAC reporting.
GL 55 — Contingent Contracts for Investment in Venezuela’s Minerals Sector
Complements GL 54 authorizing technical services, heavy equipment, and environmental consulting to the Venezuelan mining sector.
GL 54 — Mining Sector (Gold and Non-Precious Minerals)
Authorizes operations in the Venezuelan mining sector including coltan, iron, bauxite, and gold outside the Orinoco Mining Arc.
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