Venezuela signed a major deal with New York-based firm Heeney Capital to grant the entity operational and export rights for a gold mine. The deal allows Heeney Capital to work with one of the “most prolific gold belts in the Guayana Shield that hosts numerous Tier 1 gold assets,” a press release on the agreement says.
The deal is expected to be worth up to $1 billion in investments and will bring about “conomic vitality through workforce development, targeted community investments, and sustainable economic growth.”
“Heeney Capital aims to be a premier critical materials producer in Venezuela by building world-class, long-life operations that meets the highest international mining and processing standards, while directly advancing the nation’s resource sovereignty and long-term economic development,” said Henry Heeney, Co-Founder of Heeney Capital. “El Callao has the potential to deliver sustained gold production while creating jobs, attracting investment, and generating significant long-term economic value for Venezuela.”
The Venezuelan Minister of Mining, Héctor Silva, said of the agreement: “Heeney Capital brings a proven track record of executing complex projects in challenging jurisdictions, with deep expertise in large-scale resource development. These actions are part of efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between Venezuela and the United States, fostering investment to revitalize the national productive sector and consolidate Venezuela’s position as a mining and energy powerhouse.”
Earlier this year, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum confirmed that the United States received a $100 million gold shipment from Venezuela. He went on to note that Venezuela has $500 billion in gold.
“And so when we were down there this week with both oil and gas executives from the U.S. and the top mining executives, these folks are excited about getting back to Venezuela. They were often there before in the past, they see great opportunity,” he told Fox News on The Sunday Briefing in March. “I tell you, the people of Venezuela, they are going to be putting up a statue to President Trump as a great liberator because he has opened up their economy again after more than two decades.”
