GV...Sanz seems to be living up to his billing as a "no-nonsense" guy. Who knows how long it will take him (in VZ time) to tie everything up in a neat bow. Seems like us Gringoes always underestimate the time line. It is a fact that he is getting the job done and is focusing on gold in our neck of the woods. I like to believe the permit should be a done deal before Hugo's "special powers" run out....for all of the reasons you've mentioned. He seems to be putting the horse in front of the cart (makes sense) and dealing with the displaced miners before announcing any permits for the greedy foreign mining companies. I think CJR is on to something with his "let them mine the old used up mines theory". As far as the scope of what he has left to get done....I'm thinking that once the displaced miners are paid what they were promised by Hugo and they are informed of the plan going forward so that they are reasonably satisfied they will be able to have mining jobs to support their families...then permits can start being announced. After all...granting of permits...is granting of mining jobs. I don't think you'll hear many people in the vicinity of Las Cristinas complaining about a permit being granted. Didn't one of those articles say something about addressing 35,000 miners next week? If he unveiled a tentative plan at that meeting, it would be great.