Citing concerns about the environment, small miners and Indian tribes, Venezuela’s Environment and Natural Resources Ministry on April 30 blocked two large North American gold-mining projects in the mineral-rich Imataca Forest Reserve near the border with Guyana. The measure cheered green advocates fearing cyanide contamination in the 9.4-million-acre (3.8-million-ha) Imataca, home to five Indian groups and half a dozen important rivers. But it irked the mining companies, Canada’s Crystallex International and Gold Reserve of the United States, which between them expected to tap gold deposits totaling nearly 25 million ounces. “[Local] support for mining is clearly evidenced by the approval of our Environmental and Social Impact Study in early 2007,” said Gold Reserve President Doug Belanger. “It is unfathomable... [Log in to read more]