II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 797 

To establish and implement a multi-year Legal Gold and Mining Partnership 

Strategy to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of 

illicit gold mining in the Western Hemisphere, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2023 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish and implement a multi-year Legal Gold and 

Mining Partnership Strategy to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of illicit gold mining in 

the Western Hemisphere, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Legal 

5 Gold and Mining Partnership Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The illicit mining, trafficking, and commer2 cialization of gold in the Western Hemisphere— 

3 (A) negatively affects the region’s economic 

4 and social dynamics; 

5 (B) strengthens transnational criminal or6 ganizations and other international illicit actors; 

7 and 

8 (C) has a deleterious impact on the envi9 ronment and food security. 

10 (2) A lack of economic opportunities and the 

11 weak rule of law promote illicit activities, such as il12 licit gold mining, which increases the vulnerability of 

13 individuals in mining areas, including indigenous 

14 communities, who have been subjected to trafficking 

15 in persons, other human rights abuses, and popu16 lation displacement in relation to mining activity, 

17 particularly in the artisanal and small-scale mining 

18 sector. 

19 (3) Illicit gold mining in Latin America often 

20 involves and benefits transnational criminal organi21 zations, drug trafficking organizations, terrorist 

22 groups, and other illegal armed groups that extort 

23 miners and enter into illicit partnerships with them 

24 in order to gain revenue from the illicit activity. 


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1 (4) Illicit gold supply chains are international in 

2 nature and frequently involve— 

3 (A) the smuggling of gold and supplies, 

4 such as mercury; 

5 (B) trade-based money laundering; and 

6 (C) other cross-border flows of illicit as7 sets. 

8 (5) In Latin America, mineral traders and ex9 porters, local processors, and shell companies linked 

10 to transnational criminal networks and illegally 

11 armed groups all play a key role in the trafficking, 

12 laundering, and commercialization of illicit gold from 

13 the region. 

14 (6) According to a report on illegally mined 

15 Gold in Latin America by the Global Initiative 

16 Against Transnational Organized Crime— 

17 (A) more than 70 percent of the gold 

18 mined in several Latin American countries, 

19 such as Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, is mined 

20 through illicit means; and 

21 (B) about 80 percent of the gold mined in 

22 Venezuela is mined through illicit means and a 

23 large percentage of such gold is sold— 

24 (i) to the state mining company, 

25 Minerven, a gold processor that has been 


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1 designated by the Office of Foreign Assets 

2 Control of the Department of the Treas3 ury, pursuant to Executive Order 13850, 

4 and is operated by the Maduro regime; or 

5 (ii) through other trafficking and 

6 commercialization networks from which the 

7 Maduro regime benefits financially. 

8 (7) Illegal armed groups and foreign terrorist 

9 organizations, such as the Eje ́rcito de Liberacio ́n 

10 Nacional (National Liberation Army—ELN), work 

11 with transnational criminal organizations in Ven12 ezuela that participate in the illicit mining, traf13 ficking, and commercialization of gold. 

14 (8) Transnational criminal organizations based 

15 in Venezuela, such as El Tren de Aragua, have ex16 panded their role in the illicit mining, trafficking, 

17 and commercialization of gold to increase their 

18 criminal profits. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 

24 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

25 the Senate; and 


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1 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

2 the House of Representatives. 

3 (2) ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINING; 

4 ASM.—The terms ‘‘artisanal and small-scale mining’’ 

5 and ‘‘ASM’’ refer to a form of mining common in 

6 the developing world that— 

7 (A) typically employs rudimentary, simple, 

8 and low-cost extractive technologies and manual 

9 labor-intensive techniques; 

10 (B) is frequently subject to limited regula11 tion; and 

12 (C) often features harsh and dangerous 

13 working conditions. 

14 (3) ILLICIT ACTORS.—The term ‘‘illicit actors’’ 

15 includes— 

16 (A) any person included on any list of— 

17 (i) United States-designated foreign 

18 terrorist organizations; 

19 (ii) specially designated global terror20 ists (as defined in section 594.310 of title 

21 31, Code of Federal Regulations); 

22 (iii) significant foreign narcotics traf23 fickers (as defined in section 808 of the 

24 Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation 

25 Act (21 U.S.C. 1907); or 


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1 (iv) blocked persons, as maintained by 

2 the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the 

3 Department of the Treasury; and 

4 (B) drug trafficking organizations. 

5 (4) KEY STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘‘key 

6 stakeholders’’ means private sector organizations, in7 dustry representatives, and civil society representa8 tives that are committed to the implementation of 

9 the Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy. 

10 (5) LEGAL GOLD AND MINING PARTNERSHIP

11 STRATEGY; STRATEGY.—The terms ‘‘Legal Gold and 

12 Mining Partnership Strategy’’ and ‘‘Strategy’’ mean 

13 the strategy developed pursuant to section 4. 

14 (6) RELEVANT FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND

15 AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘relevant Federal depart16 ments and agencies’’ means— 

17 (A) the Department of State; 

18 (B) the Department of the Treasury; 

19 (C) the Department of Homeland Security, 

20 including U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

21 and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce22 ment; 

23 (D) the Department of Justice, including 

24 the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the 

25 Drug Enforcement Administration; 


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1 (E) the Department of the Interior; 

2 (F) the United States Agency for Inter3 national Development; and 

4 (G) other Federal agencies designated by 

5 the President. 

6 SEC. 4. LEGAL GOLD AND MINING PARTNERSHIP STRAT7 EGY. 

8 (a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of State, 

9 in coordination with the heads of relevant Federal depart10 ments and agencies, shall develop a comprehensive, multi11 year strategy, which shall be known as the Legal Gold and 

12 Mining Partnership Strategy (referred to in this section 

13 as the ‘‘Strategy’’), to combat illicit gold mining in the 

14 Western Hemisphere. 

15 (b) ELEMENTS.—The Strategy shall include policies, 

16 programs, and initiatives— 

17 (1) to interrupt the linkages between ASM and 

18 illicit actors that profit from ASM in the Western 

19 Hemisphere; 

20 (2) to deter ASM in environmentally protected 

21 areas, such as national parks and conservation 

22 zones, to prevent mining-related contamination of 

23 critical natural resources, such as water resources, 

24 soil, tropical forests, and other flora and fauna, and 


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1 aerosol contamination linked to detrimental health 

2 impacts; 

3 (3) to counter the financing and enrichment of 

4 actors involved in the illicit mining, trafficking, and 

5 commercialization of gold, and the abetting of their 

6 activities by— 

7 (A) promoting the exercise of due diligence 

8 and the use of responsible sourcing methods in 

9 the purchase and trade of ASM; 

10 (B) preventing and prohibiting foreign per11 sons who control commodity trading chains 

12 linked to illicit actors from enjoying the benefits 

13 of access to the territory, markets or financial 

14 system of the United States, and halting any 

15 such ongoing activity by such foreign persons; 

16 and 

17 (C) supporting the capacity of financial in18 telligence units, customs agencies, and other 

19 government institutions focused on anti-money 

20 laundering initiatives and combating the financ21 ing of criminal activities and terrorism to exer22 cise oversight consistent with the threats posed 

23 by illicit gold mining; 


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1 (4) to build the capacity of foreign civilian law 

2 enforcement institutions in the Western Hemisphere 

3 to effectively counter— 

4 (A) linkages between illicit gold mining, il5 licit actors, money laundering, and other finan6 cial crimes, including trade-based money laun7 dering; 

8 (B) linkages between illicit gold mining, il9 licit actors, trafficking in persons, and forced or 

10 coerced labor, including sex work and child 

11 labor; 

12 (C) the cross-border trafficking of illicit 

13 gold, and the mercury, cyanide, explosives, and 

14 other hazardous materials used in illicit gold 

15 mining; and 

16 (D) surveillance and investigation of illicit 

17 and related activities that are related to or are 

18 indicators of illicit gold mining activities; 

19 (5) to ensure the successful implementation of 

20 the existing Memoranda of Understanding signed 

21 with the Governments of Peru and of Colombia in 

22 2017 and 2018, respectively, to expand bilateral co23 operation to combat illicit gold mining; 

24 (6) to work with governments in the Western 

25 Hemisphere, bolster the effectiveness of anti-money 


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1 laundering efforts to combat the financing of illicit 

2 actors in Latin America and the Caribbean and 

3 counter the laundering of proceeds related to illicit 

4 gold mining by— 

5 (A) fostering international and regional co6 operation and facilitating intelligence sharing, 

7 as appropriate, to identify and disrupt financial 

8 flows related to the illicit gold mining, traf9 ficking, and commercialization of gold and 

10 other minerals and illicit metals; and 

11 (B) supporting the formulation of strate12 gies to ensure the compliance of reporting insti13 tutions involved in the mining sector and to 

14 promote transparency in mining-sector trans15 actions; 

16 (7) to support foreign government efforts— 

17 (A) to increase regulations of the ASM sec18 tor; 

19 (B) to facilitate licensing and formalization 

20 processes for ASM miners; 

21 (C) to create and implement environmental 

22 safeguards to reduce the negative environmental 

23 impact of mining on sensitive ecosystems; and 


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1 (D) to develop mechanisms to support reg2 ulated cultural artisanal mining and artisanal 

3 mining as a job growth area; 

4 (8) to engage the mining industry to encourage 

5 the building of technical expertise in best practices, 

6 environmental safeguards, and access to new tech7 nologies; 

8 (9) to support the establishment of gold com9 modity supply chain due diligence, responsible 

10 sourcing, tracing and tracking capacities, and stand11 ards-compliant commodity certification systems in 

12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, in13 cluding efforts recommended in the OECD Due Dili14 gence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of 

15 Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High Risk 

16 Areas, Third Edition (2016); 

17 (10) to reduce the negative environmental im18 pacts of ASM, particularly— 

19 (A) the use of mercury in preliminary re20 fining; 

21 (B) the destruction of tropical forests; 

22 (C) the construction of illegal and unregu23 lated dams and the resulting valley floods; 

24 (D) the pollution of water resources and 

25 soil; and 


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1 (E) the release of dust, which can contain 

2 toxic chemicals and heavy metals that can cause 

3 severe health problems; 

4 (11) to aid and encourage ASM miners— 

5 (A) to formalize their business activities, 

6 including through skills training, technical and 

7 business assistance, and access to financing, 

8 loans, and credit; 

9 (B) to utilize environmentally safe and sus10 tainable mining practices, including by scaling 

11 up the use of mercury-free gold refining tech12 nologies, and mining methods and technologies 

13 that do not result in deforestation, forest de14 struction, air pollution, water and soil-contami15 nation, and other negative environmental im16 pacts associated with ASM; 

17 (C) to reduce the costs associated with for18 malization and compliance with mining regula19 tions; 

20 (D) to fully break away from the influence 

21 of illicit actors who leverage the control of terri22 tory and use violence to extort miners and push 

23 them into illicit arrangements; 


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1 (E) to adopt and utilize environmentally 

2 safe and sustainable mining practices, includ3 ing— 

4 (i) mercury-free gold refining tech5 nologies; and 

6 (ii) extractive techniques that do not 

7 result in— 

8 (I) forest clearance and water 

9 contamination; or 

10 (II) the release of dust or uncon11 trolled tailings containing toxic chemi12 cals; 

13 (F) to pursue alternative livelihoods out14 side the mining sector; and 

15 (G) to fully access public social services in 

16 ASM-dependent communities; 

17 (12) to support and encourage socioeconomic 

18 development programs, law enforcement capacity19 building programs, and support for relevant inter20 national initiatives, including by providing assistance 

21 to achieve such ends by implementing the Strategy; 

22 and 

23 (13) to promote responsible sourcing and due 

24 diligence at all levels of gold supply chains. 


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1 (c) CHALLENGES ASSESSED.—The Strategy shall in2 clude an assessment of the challenges posed by, and policy 

3 recommendations to address— 

4 (1) linkages between ASM sector production 

5 and trade, particularly relating to gold, to the activi6 ties of illicit actors, including linkages that help to 

7 finance or enrich such illicit actors or abet their ac8 tivities; 

9 (2) linkages between illicit or grey market 

10 trade, and markets in gold and other metals or min11 erals and legal trade and commerce in such commod12 ities, notably with respect to activities that abet the 

13 entry of such commodities into legal commerce, in14 cluding— 

15 (A) illicit cross-border trafficking, includ16 ing with respect to goods, persons and illegal 

17 narcotics; 

18 (B) money-laundering; 

19 (C) the financing of illicit actors or their 

20 activities; and 

21 (D) the extralegal entry into the United 

22 States of— 

23 (i) metals or minerals, whether of 

24 legal foreign origin or not; and 


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1 (ii) the proceeds of such metals or 

2 minerals; 

3 (3) linkages between the illicit mining, traf4 ficking, and commercialization of gold, diamonds, 

5 and precious metals and stones, and the financial 

6 and political activities of the regime of Nicola ́s 

7 Maduro of Venezuela; 

8 (4) factors that— 

9 (A) produce linkages between ASM miners 

10 and illicit actors, prompting some ASM miners 

11 to utilize mining practices that are environ12 mentally damaging and unsustainable, notably 

13 mining or related ore processing practices 

14 that— 

15 (i) involve the use of elemental mer16 cury; or 

17 (ii) result in labor, health, environ18 mental, and safety code infractions and 

19 workplace hazards; and 

20 (B) lead some ASM miners to operate in 

21 the extralegal or poorly regulated informal sec22 tor, and often prevent such miners from im23 proving the socioeconomic status of themselves 

24 and their families and communities, or hinder 

25 their ability to formalize their operations, enVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:56 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S797.IS S797

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1 hance their technical and business capacities, 

2 and access finance of fair market prices for 

3 their output; 

4 (5) mining-related trafficking in persons and 

5 forced or coerced labor, including sex work and child 

6 labor; and 

7 (6) the use of elemental mercury and cyanide in 

8 ASM operations, including the technical aims and 

9 scope of such usage and its impact on human health 

10 and the environment, including flora, fauna, water 

11 resources, soil, and air quality. 

12 (d) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE.—The Strategy shall de13 scribe— 

14 (1) existing foreign assistance programs that 

15 address elements of the Strategy; and 

16 (2) additional foreign assistance resources need17 ed to fully implement the Strategy. 

18 (e) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall sub20 mit the Strategy to the appropriate congressional commit21 tees. 

22 (f) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after sub23 mission of the Strategy, and semiannually thereafter for 

24 the following 3 years, the Secretary of State, or the Sec25 retary’s designee, shall provide a briefing to the approVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:56 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S797.IS S797

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1 priate congressional committees regarding the implemen2 tation of the strategy, including efforts to leverage inter3 national support and develop a public-private partnership 

4 to build responsible gold value chains with other govern5 ments. 

6 SEC. 5. CLASSIFIED BRIEFING ON ILLICIT GOLD MINING IN 

7 VENEZUELA. 

8 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State, or the Secretary’s 

10 designee, in coordination with the Director of National In11 telligence, shall provide a classified briefing to the appro12 priate congressional committees, the Select Committee on 

13 Intelligence of the Senate, and the Permanent Select Com14 mittee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives 

15 that describes— 

16 (1) the activities related to illicit gold mining, 

17 including the illicit mining, trafficking, and commer18 cialization of gold, inside Venezuelan territory car19 ried out by illicit actors, including defectors from the 

20 Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) 

21 and members of the National Liberation Army 

22 (ELN); and 

23 (2) Venezuela’s illicit gold trade with foreign 

24 governments, including the Government of the ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:56 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S797.IS S797

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1 public of Turkey and the Government of the Islamic 

2 Republic of Iran. 

3 SEC. 6. INVESTIGATION OF THE ILLICIT GOLD TRADE IN 

4 VENEZUELA. 

5 The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Sec6 retary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and allied 

7 and partner governments in the Western Hemisphere, 

8 shall— 

9 (1) lead a coordinated international effort to 

10 carry out financial investigations to identify and 

11 track assets taken from the people and institutions 

12 in Venezuela that are linked to money laundering 

13 and illicit activities, including mining-related activi14 ties, by sharing financial investigations intelligence, 

15 as appropriate and as permitted by law; and 

16 (2) provide technical assistance to help eligible 

17 governments in Latin America establish legislative 

18 and regulatory frameworks capable of imposing and 

19 effectively implementing targeted sanctions on— 

20 (A) officials of the Maduro regime who are 

21 directly engaged in the illicit mining, traf22 ficking, and commercialization of gold; and 

23 (B) foreign persons engaged in the laun24 dering of illicit gold assets linked to designated 

25 terrorist and drug trafficking organizations. 


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1 SEC. 7. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT. 

2 In implementing the Legal Gold and Mining Partner3 ship Strategy pursuant to section 4, the President should 

4 direct United States representatives accredited to relevant 

5 multilateral institutions and development banks and 

6 United States ambassadors in the Western Hemisphere to 

7 use the influence of the United States to foster inter8 national cooperation to achieve the objectives of this Act, 

9 including— 

10 (1) marshaling resources and political support; 

11 and 

12 (2) encouraging the development of policies and 

13 consultation with key stakeholders to accomplish 

14 such objectives and provisions. 

15 SEC. 8. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO BUILD RESPON16 SIBLE GOLD VALUE CHAINS. 

17 (a) BEST PRACTICES.—The Administrator of the 

18 United States Agency for International Development (re19 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’), in co20 ordination with the Governments of Colombia, of Ecuador, 

21 and of Peru, and with other democratically-elected govern22 ments in the region, shall consult with the Government 

23 of Switzerland regarding best practices developed through 

24 the Swiss Better Gold Initiative, a public-private partner25 ship that aims to improve transparency and traceability 

26 in the international gold trade. 


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1 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall coordi2 nate with the Governments of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, 

3 and other democratically-elected governments in the re4 gion determined by the Administrator to establish a pub5 lic-private partnership to advance the best practices identi6 fied in subsection (a), including supporting programming 

7 in participating countries that will— 

8 (1) support formalization and compliance with 

9 appropriate environmental and labor standards in 

10 ASM gold mining; 

11 (2) increase access to financing for ASM gold 

12 miners who are taking significant steps to formalize 

13 their operations and comply with labor and environ14 mental standards; 

15 (3) enhance the traceability and support the es16 tablishment of a certification process for ASM gold; 

17 (4) support a public relations campaign to pro18 mote responsibly-sourced gold; 

19 (5) facilitate contact between vendors of respon20 sibly-sourced gold and United States companies; and 

21 (6) promote policies and practices in partici22 pating countries that are conducive to the formaliza23 tion of ASM gold mining and promoting adherence 

24 of ASM to internationally-recognized best practices 

25 and standards. 


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1 (c) MEETING.—The Secretary of State or the Admin2 istrator, without delegation and in coordination with the 

3 governments of participating countries, should— 

4 (1) host a meeting with senior representatives 

5 of the private sector and international governmental 

6 and nongovernmental partners; and 

7 (2) make commitments to improve due diligence 

8 and increase the responsible sourcing of gold. 

9 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Depart11 ment of State $10,000,000 to implement the Legal Gold 

12 and Mining Partnership Strategy developed pursuant to 

13 section 4. 

Æ 


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