DB said they filed their 90 rebuttal on 5/21 which takes them to about Sept 1st for any further decision. He again said that the permit revocation was baseless in fact and law. One of the decrees cited in the revocation expired in 2007. There are no illegal miners in Las Brisas. He thinks it's the small miner situation that has brought this to a head.

He said he is neither overly optimistic, nor overly pessimistic. Whether a new mining law is put into place by July before Hugo's special powers expire is uncertain - he's seen evidence it may or may not happen before July. He said GRZ is in good financial shape.