How Mining Contributes to Venezuela's Economy: The Numbers
Oil still pays Venezuela’s bills, but the government now pitches mining as its second engine for hard currency. On October 14, 2026, at the IMF meetings in Bangkok, Economy Vice President Calixto Ortega presented a roadmap that state broadcaster Radio Nacional de Venezuela described as built on the oil and mining industries. Here is what can actually be measured: the government says Venezuela produced 9.5 metric tons of gold in 2025 and expects about 12 tons in 2026. The USGS estimates 2.25 million tons of iron ore and 47,000 tons of primary aluminum in 2022, the latest year it covers. There is no recent official figure for mining’s share of GDP.
Output by mineral
| Mineral | Output | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 9.5 t (2026 target: about 12 t) | 2025 | Government (Mining Minister Héctor Silva) |
| Iron ore | 2.25 Mt (2.47 Mt in 2018) | 2022 | USGS estimate |
| Primary aluminum | 47,000 t (86,000 t in 2018) | 2022 | USGS estimate |
| Bauxite | 250,000 t | 2022 | USGS estimate |
| Alumina | 80,000 t | 2022 | USGS estimate |
| Coal | 200,000 t (700,000 t in 2018) | 2022 | USGS |
| Crude steel | 27,000 t (129,000 t in 2018) | 2022 | USGS |
| Cement | 2.6 Mt | 2022 | USGS estimate |
| Diamonds | 1,665 carats | 2022 | USGS |
t = metric tons · Mt = million metric tons.
What the table shows:
- Gold is the only mineral with a 2025 number, and it comes from the government. The USGS says Venezuela may have produced gold, ferronickel and other commodities in 2022, but there wasn’t enough information to estimate how much. Finanzas Digital, citing the Caracas daily Últimas Noticias, reports that 2025’s 9.5 tons is the highest since 2008.
- The state-owned plants in Guayana run at a fraction of their old output. Between 2018 and 2022, according to the USGS, primary aluminum fell to just over half, coal to under a third and crude steel to a fifth.
Oil is on another scale. The USGS counts 268 million barrels of crude in 2022 and notes the government expected crude exports of $14.7 billion to fund 63% of its 2023 budget. Globally, Venezuelan mining is small too: per CSIS, the country produced 0.84% of the world’s gold and 0.10% of its iron ore in 2024.
How mining money reaches the state
The Organic Law of Mines, published in Gaceta Oficial No. 7,020 Extraordinary on April 16, 2026, sets what the government collects. What the text says:
- Royalty of up to 13% of gross mineral production, based on the commercial value of the final product (Article 91). The Mining Ministry sets the parameters by resolution, by mineral, type of operation and size of the investment. It can be collected in cash or in kind (Article 92).
- Mining tax of up to 6% of monthly accrued income, with no deductions (Article 95). The Mining Ministry sets it project by project, after hearing from the Finance Ministry.
- Critical minerals and rare earths: exports pay a tax of up to 5% of gross export value, and the executive branch may create a special tax regime for them by decree (Article 98).
- What miners don’t pay: the law exempts mining from Venezuela’s large-fortune tax and several special levies, and from state and municipal taxes (Article 97).
- Concessions of up to 30 years, renewable twice for up to 10 years each (Article 65).
According to law firm Mayer Brown, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) has a right of first refusal on gold, with five business days to decide. Reuters reports Venezuela has been signing agreements this year with gold producers and aims to store that gold at the central bank to build up international reserves. We covered that in Venezuela pitches oil and mining to the IMF.
The new law replaces the 2015 regime, which required the state to hold 55% of every mining project and set a gold royalty of 3% to 13%, according to the USGS.
Where the government says the money will go
Per RNV, the roadmap presented to the IMF would steer higher tax revenue toward priority services such as water and electricity (in Spanish in the original). The IMF projects Venezuela’s GDP will grow 5% in 2026 and 7% in 2027; those projections don’t break out mining.
Exports seen in 2026
- Aluminum: Venalum shipped aluminum to the United States again in September. See Venalum ships aluminum to the U.S. again.
- Gold: in March, commodities trader Trafigura agreed to buy up to one metric ton of gold doré from state miner Minerven, to be refined and sold in the U.S. According to OCCRP (September 29), that gold is still in storage. A Trafigura spokesperson said in early September: “All gold Trafigura has purchased from Venezuela to-date is currently in storage, under Trafigura’s control.”
What is still not known
- Mining’s share of GDP and exports. We found no recent official figure that separates mining from the rest of the economy.
- The law’s implementing regulations. The Third Transitional Provision gives the government 180 days to publish them. Counted from April 16, that deadline was October 13, 2026; Mayer Brown puts it at October 23. As of October 16, we have found no sign they’ve been published.
- What each mineral actually pays. The law only sets ceilings; actual rates are set by resolution or contract by contract.
- How much gold comes from illegal mining. There are no recent official or independent estimates.
- How many people work in mining. There is no public employment figure for the sector.