Quote from: Jamphone on August 19, 2015, 02:22:01 PM

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Amazing price, but the current situation in the country will be a real challenge. Not saying its impossible, but it is going to be real tough.

1) The power company has not invested in capacity in over a decade, so all of the lines are probably maxed out. Look at the near 50% decrease in the country's oil production. Subsidized prices leads to no reinvestment. Even in a first world county, the much bigger struggle is finding capacity, not space. There are lots and lots of buildings, but not a lot of lines with an extra 2 or 3 MW.

2) To run a real mine you'll need electrical and HVAC equipment. The power company won't deliver much past 50kw of 208v/240v power, you're going to need transformers to step down from the voltage they deliver. Those transformers will have to come from another country. If you use "second world" grade gear, you'll end up with a fire like at Cowboy Miners last year.

3) The climate will be a real struggle. Even with "swamp" cooling, you'll need tons and tons of fans to move that air, which again, will need to be imported or you'll have to settle for substandard goods.

4) Eventually the Bolivar will go the way of the Zimbabwean dollar. Like Ecaudor, El Savlador and Panama before, Venezuela will be forced to revalue their currency. Their socialist paradise, at this point, will have to be unwound and the price of electricity in Venezuela will have to move to something similar to what its neighbours pay. Will that happen this week? No. In the next five years? Absolutely. So careful about making a "big" investments, as your mine will be underwater once that revaluation in the economy hits. And it won't just be the electricity but other subsidies, whether direct or indirect, like how an economic rebound after revaluation will remove the lower rent and employment costs caused by such poor economic management.

5) Untrustworthy government. Venezuela's government simply takes foreigners property. You'll have trouble getting people to trust that their gear won't be seized like billions and billions of foreign investments before them.

Otherwise, when you've got it running I would love to see a picture. Absolutely doable, but you're walking up hill.

Indeed, i have been in contact with several people interested in putting their mines here, and it is rather difficult to find doable places where there's no need for a 100-200k USD investment on transformers.

However, cooling is a non-issue, ambient temps on my mines are sub-30ºC so i just got to push-pull enough air through them and work done.

Regarding the issue of the "subsidy" of the electricity: I have enough insider information on the matter and i know what's the next price point, and it is a non-issue atm. Also, 80% of the generation is hydro, which is WAY greener than most other mines, and there's a dam that's about to be opened that will add 12GW more to the electric network.

If/when the socialist government goes away, the opposing party isn't willing to take the political red pill of eliminating subsidies and letting the unwashed masses pay full price Wink

Btw, electricity price before the socialist "revolution" was ultra-low too.... it has been the neverending boon here, so i doubt that's set to change anytime soon... politicians aren't stupid when it comes to populist decisions, and they know that removing subsidies from the electricity and gas prices will net them a coup, in the best case, and their lives at worst.