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Venezuela's cash below $1 billion with gold locked up

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Patricia Laya and Alex Vasquez
Bloomberg News
Friday, January 17, 2020

Venezuela's international reserves, already at a 30-year low, have hit a grim new milestone as cash holdings fall below $1 billion amid crippling economic sanctions.

Venezuela's central bank now has only about $800 million left in cash and an additional $200 million of other liquid assets, according to three people with knowledge of the bank's balance sheet. While the country holds some 73 tons of gold in local vaults, selling it has become increasingly difficult amid the U.S. efforts to cut off Nicolas Maduro's regime from a global network of buyers, banks and middlemen.

... Dispatch continues below ...


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Dunnedin Drills New Copper-Gold Porphyry Discovery
in 'Gate Zone' at MPD Project in Southern British Columbia

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada -- Dunnedin Ventures Inc. (TSX-V: DVI) today reports results from its first drill program at its 100-percent owned MPD copper-gold porphyry project in southern British Columbia. The MPD project is accessible year-round from paved highways 5A and 97C.

Discovery drill hole MPD-19-003 has intersected the new Gate Zone containing the highest-grade porphyry copper-gold mineralization reported in drill core at the MPD property to-date.

The new discovery underlies a large copper-in-soil anomaly with over 1 kilometre of strike at the "Prime" area of the project. More than 100 historical drill holes containing copper and gold mineralization define a large, likely multi-center porphyry system across 10 square kilometers of the MPD project

The Gate Zone includes intervals of higher-grade copper-gold within a broad lower grade interval, with mineralization present from near surface to a vertical depth of 800 meters, and remains open at depth. ...

... For the remainder of the announcement:

https://dunnedinventures.com/2020/01/16/dunnedin-drills-new-copper-gold-...



The shrinking coffers mark a new low for Venezuela, where an economic crisis rooted in the collapse of its all-important oil industry has been exacerbated by wide-reaching U.S. sanctions that have cut the nation off from international capital markets. A shortage of cash could threaten the Maduro regime's ability to continue food subsidy programs, import basic goods and maintain support from top military officials.

Press officials for Venezuela's central bank didn't respond to requests for comment.

A significant chunk of Venezuela's gold, 32 tons worth about $1.6 billion, remains in London after the Bank of England declined multiple requests from Maduro to repatriate the gold. While the central bank is independent, the U.K. government doesn't recognize Maduro as the country's legitimate leader and says his regime shouldn't have access to overseas assets. ...

... For the remainder of the report:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-17/venezuela-s-cash-hoar...

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