Gold Reserve Ltd has raised up to $50.3 million in a private placement as it signalled plans to return to Venezuela, where its flagship mining assets have been tied up in expropriation battles and sanctions for more than a decade.

The Bermudian-based company said it has entered into an agreement with Cantor Fitzgerald Canada Corporation to place common shares at $3 each, with gross proceeds expected to be used to “scale the company’s operational mining expertise” and for working capital. If an overallotment option is exercised in full, total proceeds could reach about $63 million.

But the bigger signal to investors came in comments on Venezuela from Paul Rivett, the chief executive.

“It is our understanding that the Venezuelan government under President [Delcy] Rodríguez is reopening for business,” Mr Rivett said in a statement released on Tuesday. “Gold Reserve intends to return to Venezuela as soon as we are able to do so in a safe and legally compliant manner, in order to re-establish connectivity, re-evaluate conditions in-country and, eventually, resume a critical minerals business”.

Gold Reserve’s most valuable asset was the Brisas gold-copper project in Bolívar state, expropriated under Hugo Chávez in 2008. In 2014, an international arbitration tribunal awarded the company roughly $740 million plus interest. A 2016 settlement led to the formation of the Siembra Minera joint venture, though those rights were later revoked under Nicolás Maduro, prompting fresh arbitration claims.

The company welcomed last month’s removal of Mr Maduro by the Trump Administration and said it supports reopening Venezuelan industry to US involvement.

In the wake of Mr Maduro’s removal, Ms Rodríguez’s interim government has enacted sweeping oil legislation, backed by the US in a $100 billion reconstruction plan to allow private control over production, slash taxes and permit independent arbitration. The US has eased sanctions to allow companies to resume operations. Although the new legislation only applies to oil, similar changes could be in store for the mining sector, according to industry observers.

Gold Reserve has spent more than a decade pursuing compensation through international arbitration and US courts. Its unresolved claims have placed it among creditor groups involved in the Delaware court-ordered sale of Citgo Petroleum’s parent, Petróleos de Venezuela Holding, designed to satisfy billions in Venezuelan debts.

Gold Reserve has also publicly condemned the Maduro regime and said one of its lawyers, José Ignacio Moreno Suárez, has been detained in Venezuela since 2023 on what it describes as politically motivated charges.

Originally incorporated in Canada in 1998, Gold Reserve continued to Bermuda in 2024 as it repositioned itself amid the continuing disputes.

Mr Rivett said the financing will help to rebuild a long-term mining investor base while positioning the company to re-engage in Venezuela if political and legal conditions allow.