Very interesting to see the names Willian Saud and Andrea Padovani in the story. Saud has been listed as the author of many articles critical of Kry and Padovani was the Rml representative Agapov suggested the media contact for more information about the Russians taking over LC.

El Mundo: Crystallex duped by AN deputies and delays in environmental permits

VHeadline News Editor Patrick J. O'Donoghue reports: El Mundo Economia & Negocios tabloid hammers home the fact that in eight years Las Cristinas minefields have not produced a single gram of gold.

Like other regional newspapers El Mundo has been covering recent efforts on the part of the government to re-activate the stagnant gold-mining sector characterized by Las Cristinas.

Eight years ago, a contract to develop the mine was approved in favor of the Canadian gold-mining company, Crystallex and the reason why nothing has been done in the last eight years is attributed to delays on the part of the Environment Ministry MinAmb) in granting environmental permission to exploit the mine.

Between January and August 2003, the National Assembly economic development permanent committee undertook an exhaustive analysis of legal, technical and socio-economic aspects of the Las Cristinas mining project. It was reviewed again in October 2007 and Decree 1,757 , which established the exploitation of the mine by a state company, was already in force. The parliamentary investigation included a review of the contract with another Canadian company, Placer Dome. The National Assembly rescinded Placer Dome's contract.

• Committee president, Ricardo Gutierrez headed an evaluation in detail of a contract signed between the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG) as concessionary and Crystallex as the operator to develop Las Cristinas mining project 4,5,6 and 7.

El Mundo comments that, for the AN deputies, the decision of the then Energy & Mines Ministry to place the concession in the hands of the CVG was correct because the gold mine in question was the most important in the country and the concessionary was a State company.

The contract was signed on December 17, 2002, and the operator was authorized to undertake investments and necessary work to reactivate and execute the project, building a plant and processing gold for marketing and sale.

The deputies were vigilant that Crystallex make investments in the social environment and monitored the communities to see if work was undertaken. The committee president reported that he had been in talks with the Environment Ministry ... Crystallex had been granted a license and there were no legal impediments preventing progress.

Crystallex president in Venezuela, Luis Felipe Cotton told deputies about the company's legal, contractual and technical compliance, saying there was no reason for any delay in granting permission to start construction. Cotton also insisted that the company had a large payroll, maintenance and socio-economic costs, which were being affected by the delay. He also clarified that the negative effects of cyanide had been discounted and 5.3 billion bolivares had been invested in a special plant that avoided damaging nature or persons.

The article points out that Laura Paredes ... who at the time represented the Basic Industries & Mining (Mibam) Ministry ... attended the meeting and placed no obstacle in the path of granting permission since the ministry she represented had already given the respective license to start developing the project. Paredes is currently president of the 50/50 RusVen C.A. socialist joint venture between Rusoro and CVG-Minerven.

CVG representative, Jorge Velasco said the Corporation had done a feasibility study, stating that, as concessionary, permission would be granted as soon as possible. Environment Ministry planning director, Sergio Rodriguez referred in general to environmental aspects.

According to the article, the conclusion of the meeting (no exact date has been provided) was that the parliamentary committee urged the Environmental Ministry to grant the respective licenses that would allow the company to start developing the mine. The writer of the article says none of the officials involved and mentioned above made any reference to Decree 1,757.

Adding a bit more history, the article reveals that the concession was originally given by President Raul Leoni in 1964 to Dot Culver Whitney de Lemon, (wife of an English General) who was also a geologist. Lemon had met Leoni when the latter was exiled in Costa Rica. After 1964, a famous Italian called Amalfi Grossi administered the concession until it expired.

The unnamed author of the piece recalls talking to Ezequiel Jimenez, who remembers that Victor Gonzalez, a broadcaster, Andrea Padovani and himself spent time in prison for confronting Grossi and defending the rights of local miners who lived marginalized and with many problems ... Padovani is today the senior representative of the Agapov Group in Caracas.

Sifontes Mayor, Carlos Chancellor gets a mention for his role in a miner's protest, along with his fellow prisoner, miner William Saud (who is dying of cancer and has not been allowed hospital treatment). Both men have appealed since they have done half of their sentence and the article concludes ... they should be freed.