Two sources revealed that Venezuela's state-owned mining company signed a multi-hundred-million-dollar agreement on Monday to sell up to 1,000 kilograms of gold to the U.S. market, demonstrating increasingly close commercial ties between Venezuela and the United States. One source stated that the gold deal requires Venezuelan state-owned enterprise Minerven to supply 650 to 1,000 kilograms of gold ingots to commodities trader Trafigura. The contract stipulates a final gold content of 98%. Currently, one kilogram of pure gold costs approximately $166,000. Another source indicated that Trafigura will ship the gold to U.S. refineries under a separate arrangement with the U.S. government. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday to discuss oil and mineral opportunities and helped facilitate this gold contract. (Jinshi)