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Venezuela aluminum heads to US as Heeney unveils gold deal
me-metals: Venezuela is preparing to ship aluminum to the US under a deal with Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Heeney Capital, which are also planning a major investment for a Venezuelan gold mine, accelerating a revival of commercial ties beyond oil.
According to me-metals cited by mining.com, The aluminum cargo, the first bound for the US in years, is for about 15,000 metric tons produced by state-owned Venalum and is scheduled to leave Venezuela as soon as Friday, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information.
Heeney, partnered with Mercuria, also plans to invest as much as $1 billion over 30 years in Venezuela’s Choco gold mine and bring production from the operation to the US, Samantha Carl-Yoder, a consultant representing the New York investment firm, told reporters Wednesday at the Group of 20 energy summit in Houston.
The deals underscore a widening push by US and other Western companies into Venezuela’s mining and metals sector after years of economic and diplomatic isolation, extending a commercial opening that initially centered on the country’s vast oil reserves.
Trader Mercuria and Heeney are engaged in separate negotiations with Venezuelan authorities to operate the Venalum smelter, Bloomberg previously reported.
Built in the 1970s by state-owned basic industries giant CVG and a Japanese consortium, Venalum was once Latin America’s largest aluminum smelter, with annual capacity of 430,000 tons. The complex, located on the Orinoco River, deteriorated amid a lack of investment and chronic power shortages and now operates at a fraction of its design capacity.
The 15,000-ton cargo would be worth almost $50 million at current prices and is equivalent to several weeks of production at Venalum’s reduced operating rates. While only a small fraction of annual US aluminum consumption, the shipment carries symbolic weight as the first significant flow of Venezuelan aluminum to the US in years.
The Choco accord builds on a broader push announced by Mercuria and Heeney in May, when the companies said they had secured Venezuelan gold and bulk-commodity offtake agreements backed by investment commitments.
The Choco complex, in Venezuela’s southern Bolívar state, includes the formerly privately operated Choco 10 mine, which was taken over by the government more than a decade ago. The operation has substantial resources but has struggled with declining production and a lack of investment.
The White House and Interior Department didn’t reply to requests for comment. Mercuria, Venalum and Venezuela’s Information Ministry also didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
source: mining.com
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