way to go Rml :what a joke !!!!

VenRus to mine areas of Las Cristinas already tied up in lawsuit - Venezuela

Published: Thursday, January 15, 2009 18:11 (GMT-0400)

Mining company Minera VenRus will be responsible for mining the IV, V, VI and VII areas at the Las Cristinas gold property in Venezuela's Bolívar state, an official from the country's basic industries and mining ministry (Mibam) told BNamericas.

However, the areas "represent 100% of Las Cristinas and are the same areas that [JV company] Minera Las Cristinas (Minca) has included in an international lawsuit," said Minca legal counsel Mariana Almeida.

In 1992, Minca signed a 20-year contract with state heavy industry holding CVG to explore, develop and mine the Las Cristinas project, after which Minca invested US$185mn.

In November 2001, CVG unilaterally withdrew the contract it shared with Minca and issued a nationalization decree for Las Cristinas in May 2002, triggering an arbitration through the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

CRYSTALLEX

In September 2002, CVG issued Canada's Crystallex International (TSX: KRY) a contract to develop the Las Cristinas gold deposit but since then the Canadian company has experienced several problems obtaining permits.

This week, Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez announced that the state will take control of Las Cristinas through VenRus, "a 50:50 JV between the Venezuelan state and Russian company Rusoro Mining (TSX-V: RML)," the Mibam official said.

After Chávez's announcement, Crystallex said in a statement that the Venezuelan government had not informed the company of any changes to the Las Cristinas project or operating contract.

Las Cristinas has 464Mt grading 1.13g/t gold or 16.9Moz contained in proven and probable reserves, in addition to 629Mt grading 1.03g/t gold or 20.8Moz contained in the measured and indicated categories.

Inferred resources amount to 230Mt grading 0.85g/t gold or 6.3Moz.