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Over a year ago the Chinese state investment Citic Group showed interest in the promising field of Las Cristinas, southern Bolivar, with proven reserves of over 16.9 million ounces of gold and 360 million pounds of copper.

In February 2012, just before leaving for Cuba to be operated by a cancerous lesion, then-President Hugo Chavez confirmed the agreement with Citic to jointly develop Las Cristinas project.

Seven months later, in September 2012, the Minister of Petroleum and Mining Rafael Ramirez signed an agreement with the Chinese group to map mining of all the country's reserves, which meant an extension of the agreements with the Asian firm Venezuela initially entered contracts for the construction of houses.

As a new phase of the agreements and the prelude to its realization, the holder of the office of Oil and Mining signed this weekend with the Development Bank of China, Bank of China and the Asian construction Citic the memorandum of understanding to the mapping and mining of Venezuela technical studies for the exploitation of Las Cristinas, the concession until 2011 was held by Canada's Crystallex.

The arrival of Chinese to the site management is not surprise in South Bolivar, considering that announcements of agreements for the exploitation of Las Cristinas dating back more than a year. What they fear workers and residents of mining towns is that the exploitation of the mine does not meet the cumulative needs of a population, which has suffered in recent years the state's productive debacle CVG Minerven that currently operates plants of transnational and mixed Rusoro Venrus from Decree 8413 which reserved to the State the exploration and exploitation of gold.

For Anti-Imperialist Front spokesman southern Bolivar shaft, Jesús Guerra, the agreement is relevant, taking into account the financial muscle of the Asian power that has served as a lifeline to companies through the Fund Guiana Chinese. What awaits the miner is that Las Cristinas not become a kind of piggy bank to fund specific projects outside of Bolivar, apart from the development of the mining region.

"Our desire is that these agreements end of turning mining into a development and rationally make obeying the needs of the people and not the need for an international market."

In his view, it is necessary that the joint venture with the China Development Bank allows adding value to gold mined in the southern municipalities of Bolivar. "It's not just remove the slug, but to ensure this area for many years has been abandoned a living (...) must ensure that there is technology transfer to end the contract once we stop relying on foreign companies."

Backward technology
specialist industrial and mining town dweller Callao, Alirio Bouquet, said he applauds the arrival of capital to increase gold production. "I have no prejudice or problems concerned the Chinese," he said.

Bouquet, who worked on the transnational Yin Yang of Venezuela that operated the mine Sosa Mendez, said that in this case it is necessary to clarify the type of technology to be used for the exploitation of Las Cristinas, considering that the Asian industry equipment Yin Yang were delinquent, compared to American and Canadian technology.

As workers agree on is that the working methods of Chinese industries are different and are reduced dialogues with labor and trade union movement. Experiences in other states refer the failure of Chinese industries to national labor laws.

The experience from the point of view of work with Yin Yang of Venezuela-Guerra said Jesus was not positive due to the precariousness of jobs, an issue that should be monitored when initiating full exploration and development of Las Cristinas.

What Minerven?
While the Executive signing agreements for the exploitation of Las Cristinas, a project that provides some 2000 direct jobs in the construction phase, state and minimum operating Minerven.

The industry came under optimal conditions to produce 300 kilos of gold per month, produced in 2013 a monthly average of 119 kilograms of the precious mineral. The worst months from the point of view of production have been June and August in which the state only reached 60 kilograms of gold and July when obtaining commodity was zero for a labor strike.

The secretary general of the Union of Workers of the Mining and Gold Sinmioro, Elby Soto, said the state investment plan needed for a better recovery of ore, but stressed that the most important thing is to ensure the operations. "If a company like Minerven freezes continuous production is difficult to start the process (...) it is necessary to call for reflection, not a mayor Minerven".

Anti-imperialist Front spokesman southern Bolivar shaft argued that alongside the development of Las Cristinas be corrected Minerven operational failures, in theory, is called to be the gold heart of Venezuela.

Was $ 600 million investment that was required for the construction and operations of a plant to process gold bearing material, from Las Cristinas, according to figures from CVG 2011.

400 direct jobs would be generated during the execution of the project, according to the National Mining Plan prepared by the late Mibam.

34 years of gold mining is the life of the project Las Cristinas.

16.9 million ounces are proven gold reserves of Las Cristinas. http://www.correodelcaroni.com/index.php/economia/item/2438-esperan-que-soporte-chino-contribuya-a-desarrollo-minero-al-sur-de-bolivar