Trump Admin Allows Western Firms to Participate in Venezuela Mining

Lifting some sanctions will allow outside corporations to explore and invest in the country’s gold and mineral deposits.

Ender Moreno looks for gold at La Culebra gold mine in El Callao, Bolivar state, southeastern Venezuela, on March 1, 2017. Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

The Trump administration March 27 opened Venezuela’s mining to Western companies, lifting some sanctions that kept outside investors from buying and selling the country’s gold and other minerals.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued three general licenses to authorize dealings with Venezuelan minerals.