"still interested in all that gold and copper in Venezuela.....???

are they still in talks with Venezuela? Would and could the chinese do a deal direct with Venezuela..... for the properties"

I'm sure they are interested as would anyone with an interest in 20 million ounces. But-- as kry stated, the Chinese are "getting to the bottom of this" latest fiasco. They by the sounds of that staement got sideswiped as well. So that leaves the question as to whether the Chinese would trust in this area, considering we had such high level approval to begin with in this JV, just to be turned away.

Sounds like some very underhanded stuff going on behind the curtain in regards to the whole gold mining situation. Does Chavez have any say or control really? Big question imo.

"Can anyone mine La Cristinas presently ???"

Yes. It is presently being mined by a few approved small co-operatives(according to kry, out of thier area of main interest), and I would assume illegals as well. The illegal aspect and the small co-operatives I think are a big factor in this mess.

jmo, who knows anymore.