Sasa good find, I am assuming they are talking solely about the small, illegal, artisianal miners in this article. I copied the part in your article that pertains to the Caroni River. Look below at a Sept 5 article that they specifically say "informal mining"...KRY is not an informal miner.

"It stressed that the Mibam wishes to stimulate the reconversion of the miners to other activities, because the auriferous and diamantífera mining totally is prohibited by law in the river basin of the Caroní river, where 70% of all the fresh water reserves of the country are concentrated."

Sept 5 Article:

Bolívar governor to aid mining reconversion plan - Venezuela
Friday, September 5, 2008

The governor of southeastern Venezuela's Bolívar state, Francisco
Rangel, has promised former artisan miners from the Sifontes area
that he will expedite efforts to find them different jobs as part of
a mining reconversion plan the country's government is undertaking.

"There is a conflict among miners taking part in the reconversion
process because they haven't been able to work in their field," a
spokesperson from the Bolívar state government told BNamericas.

The plan aims to shut down areas with informal mining, relocate small-
scale miners and withdraw concessions in the Caroní river basin and
the Sierra Imataca area.

The Las Cristinas gold project controlled by Canada's Crystallex
International (TSX: KRY) is located in the same zone. Earlier this
year, local reports said that the government planned to relocate the
artisan miners to the so-called Kilometer 88 deposits where Las
Cristinas is located.

But the head of Venezuela's mining chamber, Luis Rojas, does not
believe the areas will be left to small-scale miners.

"There is a very large source of capital there for the nation with a
lot of proven reserves. [Small-scale] miners are not going to add
value to the deposit. To the contrary, they would destroy it," he
said.

Rojas does not expect any major solutions in the area. "Reports say
there are 2,000 or 3,000 miners at Las Cristinas and mobilizing those
people right now is not going to be one of the government's
priorities. Maybe after [regional] elections [in November] but not
right now," he said.

In late August, the ministry of basic industries and mining (Mibam)
paid indemnities of more than US$5.2mn to miners from La Paragua who
joined the program designed to battle informal mining in the Cuyuni
and Caura river basins that are important tributaries to dams used by
hydroelectric plants in Venezuela.

La Paragua is in the Raúl Leoni area of Bolívar state.

Harvey Beltrán
Business News Americas