Gold Reserve Inc.'s board decided to distribute a minimum of US$90 million to shareholders with the final distribution amount and method to be determined in the coming weeks.

The company said March 8 that it has a cash balance of US$167 million, including US$21.5 million from the sale of Venezuelan sovereign debt received in 2018, with current liabilities of about US$3 million.

Under a settlement associated with the 2009 seizure of Gold Reserve's Siembra Minera, formerly Brisas, gold project, Venezuela has agreed to pay the company about US$1.03 billion and to purchase the mining data related to the project.

Gold Reserve has received about US$276 million from the Venezuelan government, with about US$756 million outstanding. Of the amount due, about US$354 million is in arrears.

If the company determines an event of default, interest will accrue starting July 2016 at the London Inter-bank Offered Rate plus 2% on the unpaid amount.