Chavez's Gold Bind

A miner illegally pans for gold at Las Cristinas mine near Ciudad Dorada, Venezuela.

David Rochkind / Polaris

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The multinationals are counting on it, anyway. Hecla is one firm that seems to have learned how to navigate chavismo. Last year it mined 130,000 oz. of gold in large part by investing $2.2 million in a partnership with about 450 miners, providing them with training, equipment like ventilators and chain saws--and legal status. An additional 140 are being brought in. "If it weren't for [Hecla], we'd still be out there with our picks and shovels getting nowhere," says Mireya Cobarrubia, 42, a mining veteran. Says local Hecla manager José Pino: "It isn't a problem as long as things are organized correctly." But as the conflict over Las Cristinas shows, organization in Venezuela's mining industry can be as rare as gold.