Venezuela halts gold permits

Mining - Funeral bells may have sounded for two of Latin America's top gold projects after mineral-rich Venezuela warned it will not issue permits in a forest reserve, part of a slow campaign grinding away at private miners.

President Hugo Chavez is on a nationalizing spree that has swallowed energy, steel and cement companies. For months, he has toyed with the idea of taking a chunk of miners without ever fully revealing his intentions for the sector.

But in April the environment ministry ruled that no new gold mines would be allowed in a reserve that houses the country's main projects, owned by Canada's Crystallex and Gold Reserve, the strongest steps yet taken against miners.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/calgarybusiness/story.html?id=6554accf-c238-472e-a0f2-21c900997de1