US issues limited licence for Venezuelan gold following high-level visit

The licence follows a push from US President Donald Trump to open Venezuela’s resource sector to international investment.Published On 6 Mar 2026The United States government has authorised a limited licence for the export of Venezuelan gold, following a high-level meeting to expand mining in the country.On Friday, a notice appeared on the US Department of the Treasury’s website announcing the licence.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Who runs Venezuela now? Trump, oil and the fight for powerlist 2 of 3Protests in Venezuela against US-Israeli war on Iranlist 3 of 3Venezuela’s president vows mining reform amid visit from US cabinet memberend of listIt allows Venezuela’s state-run mining company Minerven and its subsidiaries to export, transport and sell Venezuelan gold to the US, within the parameters set out under US law.Under the licence, however, no Venezuelan gold will be permitted to be exchanged with Cuba, North Korea, Iran or Russia.The licence also requires payments to sanctioned individuals to flow through Treasury accounts known as Foreign Government Deposit Funds, the same system that has been used to store the proceeds from Venezuelan oil sales.Minerven and other state-owned industries have faced US sanctions for years, as a penalty for the push to nationalise Venezuela’s resources under former President Hugo Chavez.But the US has been pushing for inroads into Venezuela’s oil and mining sectors since January 3, when it launched an operation to abduct and imprison the country’s then-president, Nicolas Maduro.The January 3 military operation has been condemned as a violation of international law, and critics argue that US President Donald Trump has since sought to exploit Venezuela’s natural resources for his country’s gain.Trump and his allies maintain that Venezuela’s oil resources were stolen from the US, citing the expropriation of assets from US businesses in 2007.