Abstract The decree of Mining Arc, endorsed in 2016, proposes the exploitation of minerals in an approximate area of 112,000 km2 that has generated a very intense controversy which has been very publicized by the media. However, there have been artisanal gold mining for several hundred years, commercial mining for 175 years, and in recent times, forms of industrial mining that have satisfied Venezuelan environmental standards. In the last 20 years, mining has had a very erratic policy; in 2004, a Piar Mission was implemented
