After signing what President Donald Trump touted as "the biggest oil deal in world history" to take majority control of 65 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves in Venezuela, the U.S. Administration is setting its sights on the South American country's potentially vast gold and critical minerals wealth.
The Trump Administration is weighing measures to involve U.S. companies in Venezuela's gold and critical minerals and has held initial meetings with firms to see if there is interest in engaging in the Venezuelan mining sector, sources with knowledge of the plans told Reuters this week.
Securing gold and critical minerals from Venezuela could help the U.S. with its supply of metals crucial for defense technology and applications that don't depend on China. Moreover, greater access for U.S. and Western firms in Venezuela's minerals sector would further undermine Chinese and Russian influence in the country, which the ousted Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, deposed and arrested by the U.S. in January, had enjoyed.
"We are all watching the oil situation closely and recognize there could be a parallel track with critical minerals," an executive from a critical minerals firm who met with the U.S. Administration about Venezuela, told Reuters.
However, the path to mining Venezuela's minerals would not be as straightforward as it arguably is for the oil reserves. Operators generally know how much crude oil Venezuela has (the biggest reserves in the world), but no one really knows the reserves and mining potential of the gold and critical minerals deposits.
#venezuela
The Trump Administration is weighing measures to involve U.S. companies in Venezuela's gold and critical minerals and has held initial meetings with firms to see if there is interest in engaging in the Venezuelan mining sector, sources with knowledge of the plans told Reuters this week.
Securing gold and critical minerals from Venezuela could help the U.S. with its supply of metals crucial for defense technology and applications that don't depend on China. Moreover, greater access for U.S. and Western firms in Venezuela's minerals sector would further undermine Chinese and Russian influence in the country, which the ousted Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, deposed and arrested by the U.S. in January, had enjoyed.
"We are all watching the oil situation closely and recognize there could be a parallel track with critical minerals," an executive from a critical minerals firm who met with the U.S. Administration about Venezuela, told Reuters.
However, the path to mining Venezuela's minerals would not be as straightforward as it arguably is for the oil reserves. Operators generally know how much crude oil Venezuela has (the biggest reserves in the world), but no one really knows the reserves and mining potential of the gold and critical minerals deposits.
#venezuela
21 hours ago
