What permits?

Gold Reserve's major asset is the Brisas gold property in Venezuela. Since 1993, it has spent about $230 million developing the property, and established reserves totalling 10.2 million ounces of gold and 1.4 million pounds of copper, with a gross value of $10 billion. Last year, however, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez revoked the company's mining permit, along with a similar permit issued to Crystallex International Corp., a Toronto-based company that is trying to develop the adjacent property, Las Cristinas. As a result of the permit cancellations, the share prices of both companies plunged.