Kathmandu. The news of the US military action in Venezuela and the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores has once again raised tensions around the world.
Most importantly, by arresting Nicolas Maduro, the US has caused a stir in the global energy market by declaring direct interference in Venezuela’s oil sector. But is it just about oil, or is it about other treasures in Venezuela? So Venezuela is not only in oil reserves but also in gold treasures.
Understand Trump’s statement
Venezuela is said to have the world’s largest oil reserves and the United States has made a big bet on it. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was arrested last week after a military operation in the country. Meanwhile, Donald Trump announced that US oil companies will enter Venezuela. Billions of dollars will be invested to repair the country’s severely damaged oil infrastructure and mass production will begin. This means that the US will have control over Venezuelan oil.
Trump also made it clear that we’re in the oil business; Our major oil companies will go there, spend billions of dollars and start making profits. He also said that there is a lot of money coming out of the land and everything we spend will be returned.
Venezuela reserves 303 billion barrels of oil
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US President Trump has his eyes on Venezuela’s oil reserves and this can be inferred from the fact that after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, he announced that Washington would be heavily involved in Venezuela’s oil industry. This marks a decisive shift in U.S. policy toward the country’s energy assets. Venezuela has the world’s largest crude oil reserves. It is estimated to be about 303 billion barrels. Even at current prices, the value of these oil reserves is about $17.3 trillion.
Geographically, Venezuela covers vast landmasses from the Andes Mountains in the west to the vast Orinoco River basin in the east and the ancient Guyana Shield in the southeast. It covers more than 415,000 square kilometers of Precambrian rocks. The belt of Orino, a 55,000-square-kilometer southern belt located on the edge of the basin of eastern Orino, contains an estimated 1,200 billion barrels of heavy crude oil. That’s equivalent to the world’s conventional oil reserves.
Gold Treasure in Venezuela{
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It is worth noting that amid recent developments, Venezuela has significant reserves beyond allegations of corruption and drug trafficking. This includes not only oil but also other minerals. It also has substantial gold reserves. The southern parts of the country are characterized by forested plains and rugged mountainous terrain. Which is ideal for alluvial gold mining.
The Guyana Shield is made up of complex gneiss and Proterozoic greenstone belts of Archean Imata. It has low-sulfide gold quartz veins. Gold quartz veins are naturally occurring rocks. They are made up of a mixture of gold and quartz minerals. These minerals consist of thin or thick veins of gold scattered between layers of quartz. They are considered to be the rarest form of natural gold, ranging from 70% to 95% purity.
There are also shear-zone deposits and placer deposits in this area. It has more than 10,000 tons of total mineable reserves. Reports suggest that there are more than 200 gold sites in metavolcanic and metasedimentary deposits in the country. It has potentially covered up to 8,000 metric tons. In addition, deposits such as Choco 10 in the state of Bolivar attest to Venezuela’s gold reserves.
Blue Gold and Other Rare Earth Deposits
Reports indicate that Venezuela’s Guyana Shield, one of the oldest continental regions on Earth, holds vast deposits of precious minerals, including tin, tungsten, tantalum and rare earth metals. An earlier report in The Guardian, speaking on condition of anonymity, quoted a source as saying that the difference between tin and colton pieces is clearly visible.
It’s worth noting that Colton is also known as blue gold. Former President Hugo Chávez declared that Venezuela had huge reserves of blue gold and during his tenure deployed 15,000 National Guards near the Colombian border to protect it. In 2016, three years after Chávez’s death, his successor Nicolás Maduro signed Orino’s mining zones ordinance. Of this, 43,243 square miles (112,000 km2) were earmarked for mine development. This included areas designated for coltan extraction.
What is the motive behind the U.S. action?
However, U.S. strikes targeted Caracas. It came amid drug smuggling, sanctions and rising tensions over Venezuelan oil tankers. Experts believe that the US wants to control not only oil but also gold reserves. In addition, the U.S. aims to reduce Chinese and Russian influence.
