[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3496 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 329
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3496
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
December 16, 2025
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Cruz, and Ms. Rosen) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations
February 10, 2026
Reported by Mr. Risch, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``United
States Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Act''.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:</DELETED>
<DELETED>Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
<DELETED>Sec. 2. Findings.
<DELETED>Sec. 3. Definitions.
<DELETED>Sec. 4. Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy.
<DELETED>Sec. 5. Classified briefing on illicit gold mining in
Venezuela.
<DELETED>Sec. 6. Investigation of the illicit gold trade in Venezuela.
<DELETED>Sec. 7. Leveraging international support.
<DELETED>Sec. 8. Public-private partnership to build responsible gold
value chains.
<DELETED>Sec. 9. Rule of construction regarding not authorizing the use
of military force.
<DELETED>Sec. 10. Consideration of certain transactions involving
precious metals for purposes of identifying
primary money laundering concerns.
<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> Congress makes the following findings:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) The illicit mining, trafficking, and
commercialization of gold in the Western Hemisphere--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) negatively affects the region's
economic and social dynamics;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) strengthens transnational criminal
organizations and other international illicit actors;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) has a deleterious impact on the
environment, indigenous peoples, and food
security.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) A lack of economic opportunities and the weak
rule of law promote illicit activities, such as illicit gold
mining, which increases the vulnerability of individuals in
mining areas, including indigenous communities, which have been
subjected to trafficking in persons, other human rights abuses,
and population displacement in relation to mining activity,
particularly in the artisanal and small-scale mining
sector.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Illicit gold mining in Latin America often
involves and benefits transnational criminal organizations,
drug trafficking organizations, terrorist groups, and other
illegal armed groups that extort miners and enter into illicit
partnerships with them in order to gain revenue from the
illicit activity.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) Illicit gold supply chains are international
in nature and frequently involve--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) the smuggling of gold and supplies,
such as mercury;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) trade-based money laundering;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) other cross-border flows of illicit
assets.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) In Latin America, mineral traders and
exporters, local processors, and shell companies linked to
transnational criminal networks and illegally armed groups all
play a key role in the trafficking, laundering, and
commercialization of illicit gold from the region.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) According to a report on illegally mined gold
in Latin America by the Global Initiative Against Transnational
Organized Crime--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) more than 70 percent of the gold mined
in several Latin American countries, such as Colombia,
Ecuador, and Peru, is mined through illicit means;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) about 80 percent of the gold mined in
Venezuela is mined through illicit means and a large
percentage of such gold is sold--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) to Mibiturven, a joint venture
operated by the Maduro regime composed of
Minerven, a gold processor that has been
designated by the Office of Foreign Assets
Control of the Department of the Treasury,
pursuant to Executive Order 13850 (relating to
blocking property of additional persons
contributing to the situation in Venezuela),
and Marilyns Proje Yatirim, S.A., which is a
Turkish company; or</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) through other trafficking and
commercialization networks from which the
Maduro regime benefits financially.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) Illegal armed groups and foreign terrorist
organizations, such as the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional
(National Liberation Army--ELN), work with transnational
criminal organizations in Venezuela that participate in the
illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization of
gold.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (8) Transnational criminal organizations based in
Venezuela, such as El Tren de Aragua, have expanded their role
in the illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization of
gold to increase their criminal profits.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (9) Nicaragua's gold exports during 2023 were
valued at an estimated $1,240,000,000, of which--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) gold valued at an estimated
637,000,000 was shipped to the United States;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) gold valued at an estimated
$353,000,000 was shipped to Canada;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) gold valued at an estimated
$244,000,000 was shipped to Switzerland; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) gold valued at an estimated $6,560,000
was shipped to Italy.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (10) U.S. Customs and Border Protection has
recognized that illegal logging is the world's most profitable
natural resource crime and that profits from illegal logging
finance illegal mining.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> In this Act:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of
the Senate;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs of the Senate;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) the Select Committee on Intelligence
of the Senate;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (E) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
the House of Representatives;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (F) the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (G) the Committee on Financial Services of
the House of Representatives; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (H) the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence of the House of Representatives.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Artisanal and small-scale mining; asm.--The
terms ``artisanal and small-scale mining'' and ``ASM'' refer to
a form of mining common in the developing world that--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) typically employs rudimentary, simple,
and low-cost extractive technologies and manual labor-
intensive techniques;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) is frequently subject to limited
regulation; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) often features harsh and dangerous
working conditions.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Key stakeholders.--The term ``key
stakeholders'' means private sector organizations, industry
representatives, and civil society groups that represent
communities in areas affected by illicit mining and trafficking
of gold, including indigenous groups, that are committed to the
implementation of the Legal Gold and Mining Partnership
Strategy.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) Legal gold and mining partnership strategy;
strategy.--The terms ``Legal Gold and Mining Partnership
Strategy'' and ``Strategy'' mean the strategy developed
pursuant to section 4.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) Relevant federal departments and agencies.--
The term ``relevant Federal departments and agencies'' means
the Department of State and all other Federal departments and
agencies designated by the President as having significant
domestic or foreign affairs equities in countering illicit
mining.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the
Secretary of State.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 4. LEGAL GOLD AND MINING PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Strategy Required.--The Secretary, in coordination
with the heads of relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall
develop a comprehensive, multi-year strategy, which shall be known as
the Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy, to combat illicit gold
mining in the Western Hemisphere.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Elements.--The Strategy shall include policies,
programs, and initiatives--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) to interrupt the linkages between gold mining,
including ASM, and illicit actors that profit from illicit
mining in the Western Hemisphere;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) to deter ASM in environmentally protected
areas, such as national parks and conservation zones, to
prevent mining-related contamination of critical natural
resources, such as water resources, soil, tropical forests, and
other flora and fauna, and aerosol contamination linked to
detrimental health impacts;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) to counter the financing and enrichment of
actors involved in the illicit mining, trafficking, and
commercialization of gold, and the abetting of their activities
by--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) promoting the exercise of due
diligence and the use of responsible sourcing methods
in the purchase and trade of ASM;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) preventing and prohibiting foreign
persons who control commodity trading chains linked to
illicit actors from enjoying the benefits of access to
the territory, markets or financial system of the
United States, and halting any such ongoing activity by
such foreign persons;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) combating related impunity afforded to
illicit actors by addressing corruption in government
institutions and interrupting linkages between corrupt
officials and illicit actors that exploit ASM
miners;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) supporting the capacity of financial
intelligence units, customs agencies, and other
government institutions focused on anti-money
laundering initiatives and combating the financing of
criminal activities and terrorism to exercise oversight
consistent with the threats posed by illicit gold
mining; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (E) working with the governments and
appropriate institutions of countries that host gold
refineries or processing centers to deter the
importation of illicit gold and implement greater due
diligence practices;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) to build the capacity of foreign civilian law
enforcement institutions in the Western Hemisphere to
effectively counter--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) linkages between illicit gold mining,
illicit actors, money laundering, and other financial
crimes, including trade-based money
laundering;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) linkages between illicit gold mining,
illicit actors, trafficking in persons, and forced or
coerced labor, including sex work and child
labor;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) linkages between illicit gold mining,
illicit actors, and the illegal timber trade;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) the cross-border trafficking of
illicit gold, and the mercury, cyanide, explosives, and
other hazardous materials used in illicit gold mining,
particularly those originating in China or trafficked
by transnational criminal organizations; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (E) surveillance and investigation of
illicit and related activities that are related to or
are indicators of illicit gold mining
activities;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) to ensure the successful implementation of the
existing Memoranda of Understanding signed with the Governments
of Peru and of Colombia in 2017 and 2018, respectively, to
expand bilateral cooperation to combat illicit gold
mining;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) to work with governments in the Western
Hemisphere, bolster the effectiveness of anti-money laundering
efforts to combat the financing of illicit actors in Latin
America and the Caribbean and counter the laundering of
proceeds related to illicit gold mining by--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) fostering international and regional
cooperation and facilitating intelligence sharing, as
appropriate, to identify and disrupt financial flows
related to the illicit gold mining, trafficking, and
commercialization of gold and other minerals and
illicit metals; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) supporting the formulation of
strategies to ensure the compliance of reporting
institutions involved in the mining sector and to
promote transparency in mining-sector
transactions;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) to support foreign government efforts--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) to facilitate licensing and
formalization processes for ASM miners;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) to develop mechanisms to support
regulated cultural artisanal mining and artisanal
mining as a job growth area; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) to implement existing environmental
standards;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (8) to engage the mining industry and relevant
trade or industry associations to encourage the building of
technical expertise in best practices and access to new
technologies;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (9) to support the establishment of gold commodity
supply chain due diligence, responsible sourcing, tracing and
tracking capacities, and standards-compliant commodity
certification systems in countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean, including efforts recommended in the OECD Due
Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals
from Conflict-Affected and High Risk Areas, Third Edition
(2016);</DELETED>
<DELETED> (10) to engage with civil society to reduce the
negative environmental impacts of ASM, particularly--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) the use of mercury in preliminary
refining;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) the destruction of tropical
forests;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) the construction of illegal and
unregulated dams and the resulting valley
floods;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) the pollution of water resources and
soil; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (E) the release of dust, which can contain
toxic chemicals and heavy metals that can cause severe
health problems;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (11) to aid and encourage ASM miners--</DELETED>
<DELETED>