Venezuela's Mining Law in 2026: What Changes, Royalties, Concessions and Gold
The Organic Mining Law approved by the National Assembly on April 9, 2026 opens Venezuela’s gold and strategic minerals to private and foreign capital: concessions of up to 30 years, royalties of up to 13% and a mining tax of up to 6%. It was published in Official Gazette 7,020 Extraordinary on April 16, 2026, has 131 articles and repeals the 1999 mining law and the 2015 decree that reserved gold to the State. Deposits remain the property of the Republic. Data as of November 2, 2026. Important: I could not read the Gazette text; this guide relies on Reuters, Infobae, France 24 and analyses by the law firms Holland & Knight and Victum.
The 2026 Mining Law at a glance
| Approval | April 9, 2026, unanimously |
| Publication | Official Gazette 7,020 Extraordinary, April 16, 2026 |
| Articles | 131 |
| Repeals | 1999 Mining Law and the 2015 gold decree |
| Concessions | 30 years, with two extensions of up to 10 years |
| Royalty | Up to 13% of gross production |
| Mining tax | Up to 6% |
| Gold | The Central Bank has the preferential right to buy |
What is the new Organic Mining Law?
It is the law that regulates all mining in Venezuela: who can exploit deposits, with what title and what is paid to the State. The National Assembly approved it unanimously, in the second and final vote, on April 9, 2026, after four debate sessions, per France 24 and Reuters. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez pushed it after Nicolás Maduro’s capture on January 3 and the visit to Caracas by U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum (France 24, citing AP). It is the mining counterpart of the oil law reform (Spanish).
What laws does it repeal?
It repeals the 1999 mining law decree and the 2015 decree reserving gold mining to the State, per Holland & Knight and Reuters. Victum Legal adds that it also repeals rules that reserved mining activities to the State, including regimes tied to the Orinoco Mining Arc (the Mining Arc).
Who can exploit the minerals?
According to Reuters, the law lets foreign, domestic, state and private companies or consortia exploit gold and “strategic minerals.” Private companies can operate independently, with State authorization, or through mixed companies. Holland & Knight summarizes: companies wholly owned by the State, their subsidiaries and authorized private companies can take part, and it highlights private capital as the main change. Under Article 2, deposits remain public-domain assets that are “inalienable and imprescriptible,” property of the Republic, per Victum.
What titles exist: concession, license or contract?
Holland & Knight explains that mining is divided into small, medium and large scale:
| Scale | Title |
|---|---|
| Large-scale mining | Concession |
| Small, medium and artisanal | License |
| Specific activities | Mining contract |
Concessions last up to 30 years and can be extended twice, up to 10 years each time (Infobae, France 24 and Reuters).
How much must be paid to the State?
- Royalty: up to 13% of gross production, which the State can collect in cash or in kind (France 24, Articles 91-92). Reuters specifies it is calculated on the commercial value of the final product. According to Victum, the Executive can reduce it depending on the mineral and project.
- Mining tax: up to 6% for companies doing primary activities (Reuters and Victum), with special regimes and exemptions for strategic and critical minerals (Victum).
- Annual mining fee per hectare granted (Victum).
One analysis surfaced in a search mentioned taxes of up to 12%, but I could not confirm it; Reuters and Victum say 6%.
What does the law say about gold?
The Central Bank of Venezuela has the preferential right to buy gold obtained from any mining activity in the country (France 24), and according to Reuters it will take over its marketing. This changes the scheme under the 2015 decree, which reserved gold to the State. How this combines with U.S. licenses to export gold is in investing in Venezuela mining and Venezuela sanctions. More on the metal in Venezuelan gold.
What does it say about the environment and communities?
- Ecological mining development: the law introduces the concept, with obligations of environmental protection, remediation and respect for communities’ human and sociocultural rights (Victum).
- Permits and closure: prior environmental authorizations, environmental and sociocultural impact studies, and mine closure plans backed by bonds (Victum).
- Protected areas: Article 124 punishes mining in areas under special environmental protection with 10 to 15 years in prison (Infobae and France 24).
- Officials: under Article 74, neither they nor their relatives can obtain mining titles until five years after leaving office.
- Radioactive minerals: Article 36 lets the State reserve their primary exploitation if the public and strategic interest requires it.
What about disputes and arbitration?
France 24 reports that the first twelve articles open the door to private and foreign investment and to mediation and arbitration; Reuters says disputes will be resolved through arbitration. The texts give no more detail.
What institutions does it create?
According to one analysis, the law creates the National Superintendence of Mining Activity, the National Geoscientific-Mining Data Bank and the National Mining Fund, and gives 180 days to publish the regulations. This comes from a single source that I could not cross-check.
How does it fit with U.S. licenses?
Reuters reports the U.S. issued a license allowing transactions with the state company Minerven and its subsidiaries, as long as contracts are governed by U.S. law: it is what now appears as GL 51D, which authorizes trading gold and minerals but not exploring or mining. In other words: Venezuelan law opens the door, but for a U.S. company the production side still needs a specific OFAC license.
What do critics say and what is happening on the ground?
The law arrives in an area with illegal mining and armed groups. According to a July 2026 SOS Orinoco report cited by Mongabay, there are 26 armed groups south of the Orinoco, present in 20 of the 21 municipalities of the zone. Mongabay also links expert analyses questioning the law’s laxity. I could not read those criticisms in detail, so I do not summarize them.
What is not known
- The full text. I did not read the Official Gazette; the figures (13% and 6%) agree across Reuters, France 24, Infobae and Victum, but should be checked against the text.
- The law’s regulations, which one analysis says have a 180-day deadline.
- How many concessions or mixed companies will be signed, and with whom. The government speaks of negotiations in gold, aluminum and iron (the news).
- How companies that operated under the previous regime adjust, and those claiming over past nationalizations, such as Crystallex, Gold Reserve and Rusoro, to which Venezuela owes billions per Reuters (Venezuela’s debt).
- Whether the law will curb illegal mining or regularize it.