Entertainment
Overview of oil, natural gas, rare earth minerals
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is located alongside the South America’s Caribbean coast. Its neighbouring countries are Brazil and Columbia. Having a total area of 912,050 km2 and a land area of 882,050 km2, Venezuela is enriched with natural resources.
Natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, diamonds, and other minerals.
Oil
The country holds one of the largest oil reserves in the world and is a founder member of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Statistical Review of World Energy revealed that proven oil reserves of Venezuela were around 300 billion barrels (4.8x1010m3) as of January 1, 2014.
However, the 2019 BP Statistical Review of World Energy reveals that Venezuela’s total proved reserves rose to 303.3 billion barrels, which is slightly more than Saudi Arabia (297.7 billion barrels).
Besides conventional oil reserves, Venezuela has oil sands deposits similar in size to those of Canada in the Orinoco Belt. They are approximately equivalent to the world’s reserves of conventional oil.
It is reported that around 100 billion barrels to 270 billion barrels are the recoverable reserves of the Orinoco Belt. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Orinoco Belt alone contains 900-1,400 billion barrels of heavy crude in proven and unproven deposits.
Of this, only 380-652 billion barrels can be technically recoverable. This makes the country’s total reserves (proven and unproven) among the largest in the world.
Gold
Venezuela has significant gold resources, mainly located in the Guiana Shield in the southeast of the country. Gold mining began in the 1800s, and by the early 1970s, about 187 metric tons had been officially produced. The El Callao district is Venezuela’s most crucial gold area, having produced over 124 metric tons of gold and once being the world’s leading gold mine. Other districts, such as Kilometer 88, Lo Increíble, and Marwani, also contain gold in similar geological settings.
Diamond
Venezuela is also naturally endowed with diamonds. Its Guiana Shield is the central diamond-producing region. The Quebrada Grande area and the San Salvador de Paul mine have historically been the most prominent producers, reportedly accounting for over 90% diamond production in the 1975-1980 period.
Iron
Venezuela also has significant iron resources, mainly in banded iron formations (BIFs) of the Archean Imataca Complex. Currently, the high-grade reserves have exceeded 1,866 million metric tons at Cerro Bolivar, San Isidro, and Los Barrancos, grading about 63% iron. Combining with lower-grade materials, total reserves can reach up to 8,000-10,000 million metric tons.
Aluminum
After oil, Venezuela’s alumina industry is the second-largest foreign-currency earner. In 1987, the country produced about 1,347,000 mt of alumina and 428,000 mt of aluminum metal. Significant deposits are found at Los Pijiguaos, Upata, Nuria, Los Guaicas, and Gran Sabana. Los Pijiguaos alone holds around 700 million mt of proven and potential reserves.
Manganese
Manganese deposits are present in the greenstone belts of the Archean Imataca Complex, at locations such as San Cristobal, La Esperanza, El Palmar, Guacuripia, Upata, and El Pao. The ores are secondly enriched, containing pyrolusite, cryptomelane, and psilomelane, with total reserves in the Upata-El Palmar-Guacuripia area around 1 million mt, averaging 20-25% Mn.
Tin
Tin occurs in placer, eluvial, and lode deposits in western Bolivar State and Amazon Federal Territory, especially around Cano Aguamena. Alongside Tin, associated minerals include cassiterite, tantalum, niobium, zirconium, and titanium minerals. Although resources are not well-defined, drill samples show 0.01-0.77% tin in heavy minerals.
Niobium, Tantalum, Rare Earth Minerals (REE)
These are primarily linked to pegmatites in Parguaza granite and the Imataca Complex, with the richest deposit at Cerro Impacto, a weathered carbonatite. Lateritic soils here are enriched in Fe, Mn, Al, Ba, Th, Nb, Ti, and REE (Cerium, Lanthanum, and Neodymium). Other minerals include gorceixite, goyazite, florencite, bastanaesite, and monazite. The most significant source is Cerro Impacto.
Uranium
Uranium occurrences are scattered, primarily as radiometric anomalies in the Guiana Shield. Key areas include the Churuata ring structure and parts of the Roraima Group.
Venezuela is endowed with abundant natural resources, including petroleum, minerals, and metals, offering significant economic potential, though many deposits remain underexplored, and development varies across regions.
Entertainment
Charlie Sheen updates on relationship with old pal Jon Cryer
Charlie Sheen has admitted he still hasn’t reached out to his Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer despite repeatedly saying he intends to, and took a playful swipe at his old friend for being “a little grudgy” more than a decade after their famous falling-out.
Sheen was speaking at a For Your Consideration event for the Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen in Los Angeles on 22 April, where he was asked about reconnecting with Cryer, who also participated in the film.
“Every time this comes up, I say I’m going to [reach out to him] and I never do,” he told PEOPLE. “I don’t like to bother people. But I think Jon would be open to that. Jon’s a lovely man and a very talented guy.”
During the panel portion of the evening, Sheen couldn’t resist a gentle jab at Cryer’s absence.
“Jon’s not here tonight, is he? No, he’s a little grudgy like a decade and a half later. I’m like, ‘Dude, what the f—? I got over it. What are we doing, Jon?'”
He quickly softened, expressing genuine appreciation for everyone who agreed to participate.
“They could have easily said, ‘Go f— yourself. I’m not interested. I lived it. I don’t need to talk about it again.’ And I would have been, ‘OK, that’s fine.’ But they didn’t, and they stepped up.”
The documentary and Sheen’s memoir The Book of Sheen both landed in the same week in September 2025, with Sheen describing the experience of finally documenting his story as a relief.
“It’s documented, and I think told beautifully, visually and, hopefully, decently. There’s stuff in the book that’s not in the doc and vice versa, because there are things I couldn’t capture with the written word that [director Andrew Renzi] did visually, because some things you just have to see to feel it.”
He also recalled being uncertain about taking part at first, until Renzi laid out his case.
“He said, ‘Because you have a story that is unlike anyone who’s ever just in the business, but also outside of it.’ And then he went through listing stuff, and I’m like, alright, OK.”
Renzi put it plainly: “There’s only one Charlie Sheen… and there’s just not many people that would have had the life that he had that would want to talk about it, or are alive to talk about it.”
Sheen, who has been sober for eight years, said he would not have taken on either project while still in the grip of addiction.
“I think it always sort of had a happy ending attached to it, regardless of where the story went.”
Entertainment
Here’s real update on POTUS’s health
In a recent White House meeting, U.S. President Trump momentarily dozed off .
The incident sparked speculations about the 79-year-old president’s health, with a prominent medical expert indicating the symptoms may point to sleep apnea.
This video, which was recorded at the affordability event at the Oval Office on Thursday, displays Trump sitting with his eyes shut, jaw hanging loose, and head slumped down. Even though there have been no medical warnings made by the White House, it has generated a lot of discussions on social media.
A medical expert, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of Medicine and Surgery linked with CNN, weighed in on the matters.
Reiner wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): “When a patient tells me that they can’t stay awake in meetings, we do formal sleep testing to look for sleep apnea.”
“The president continues to struggle with daytime somnolence. This is a common problem, and there are things that can be done to improve these symptoms,” he added.
In medical terms, sleep apnea is a condition where the patient suffers from a pattern of interruptions in breathing while sleeping.
The White House does not acknowledge any such medical condition, and President Trump has not yet had an officially scheduled annual physical examination in 2026, although he has been known to undergo semiannual physical exams. It has been observed that President Trump, who is turning 80 in June, holds fewer public meetings than he did in his first presidential term.
Concerning the POTUS ‘health, Congressman Ted Lieu said: “There’s something mentally wrong with the President of the United States. There is also something physically wrong… he can’t stay awake at public events with the cameras rolling.”
However, White House has maintained the stance of Trump’s good health. Until now, no official medical evaluation has been released.
Given these rising concerns, another video of Trump is circulating where he can be seen falling asleep and violently hitting his head on the desk. However, that specific video is fake and AI-generated.
Entertainment
Offset teases new album plans after recent shooting accident
Offset is coming back stronger after his shooting accident which altered his plans, but he still showed up – even taking the stage on a wheelchair.
The 34-year-old rapper spoke about his recovery and accident in a new interview, sharing how he kept his morale up and continued pushing himself.
“You’ve got to keep pushing like the Energizer Bunny, man. Keep this s— pushing. Don’t got time to be slowing down.” Offset told the Creators Inc. Podcast on Thursday, March 23.
Speaking about his performance mid-recovery, the Annihilate hitmaker noted, “You got to go G6 — G5, sorry. Had them bring the bed out, lay on that thing for six hours, go to sleep. You cool.”
The rapper also hinted at his new album in the same interview, saying, “I’m trying to drop soon. Couple months from now. I don’t got no date yet, but getting the creative and all s— to go together. Removing songs, making new songs, just off life because all my s— always be off of life experiences. You know what I mean? What happens in my real life, I just put it in my music.”
Despite the Florida accident, Offset shared that he maintains a “gladiator mentality” which motivates him to push forward instead of being held down by such incidents.
“The show don’t ever stop at the end of the day. I was blessed enough to be able to still move, you know what I mean? So, I’m still moving. I didn’t really have a checklist for it,” he said.
The Open It Up singer added, “I don’t want nobody feel sorry for me or no s— like that. People get shot every day, bro, like, I’m blessed. I can keep pushing, so why would I just sit down? I got to keep pushing. I got to keep going.”
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