EZ

The permitting experience in Venezuela and the nationalizations instituted by Hugo Chavez et al is bound, at least in my opinion, to scare off North American publically traded companies from making a move on KRY. To that end I do not believe an ABX or a GG would dare touch Las Cristinas.

With KRY looking at arbitration as a last resort then the alternatives are to reach a compromise with Venezuela or to take-on a JV partner or to sell out!

My own belief is that a Russian entity will enter Venezuelan gold mining through a KRY JV or outright purchase. The list of potential suitors is small:

Polyus

Polymetal

Gazprombank

RML

Given Prokorov's connections with the Kremlin and Gazprombank's USD 4 billion loan facility my belief is that Polyus is the most likely candidate.

Under normal circumstances I would say you are correct that this deposit is worth a significant amount however in reality the purchase of it will be less that what would be claimed through the arbitration process. KRY will do the prudent thing and reach some compromise that creates value instead of the uncertainties associated with ICSID.

What the amount will be is purely a guess. I still think one possibility would be USD 2 and change for 50.1 % or an all stock swap deal at USD 4.00 for 100 %.

Time will tell.

Cheers

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