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The Canadian Mining Newsletter
March 23 1998
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Sym Ex Last bid ask hi lo chnge volume
Crystallex KRY T 5.35 5.35 5.40 5.75 5.10 -0.15 654190
Seems like Asensio and Acosta are getting press despite Alvarez's
(chairman of the Venezuelan Mining Commission) saying that Acosta
is airing private views. The Northern Miner repeats the line that
the court case is just an overturning of a previous decision and
does not give them the mining rights. This is not true. The
motions admitted are clear and direct towards getting the mining
rights affirmed. That is what they are asking for. That is what
the court must decide they get or not. The Financial Post featured
an interview with John Wilson, the president of Dome where he
spreads misinformation rather cleverly as well. Seems like Wilson
thinks it politic to have people believe that the gold rights of
Los Cristinas 4 & 6 will not be assailed at this sitting of the
Supreme Court. He also wished to foster the view that this was
an APPEAL by Crystallex, to try to overturn a previous decision of
the Supreme court. So why is his legal team trying to bury the
Supreme Court in a flurry of paper, some 2000 pages of legal
briefs? It seems Dome is doing the appealing here and not KRY. In
a leaked memo that was published on the internet about last year
it was said that Dome was advised by its Venezuelan lawyers that
CVG was a weak link and that they could lose the right to mine
due to improper constitutional formation of that entity.
The facts are:
1. Crystallex is the only title holder of Los Cristinas 4 & 6 at
this time. If CVG were awarded the rights to mine it would be the
first time in Venezuelan history where a non-title-holder was
allowed to mine a concession where the titular holder had
adverse interest and objection to that taking place.
2. The Court case is being held to consider 11 motions all
relating to the gold and copper rights of the concessions.
There is no partial admission of a court case in Venezuelan law.
3. The "Copper" rights are actually the deep mining rights of the
concession and include whatever metals are found by underground
mining. There is no actual separation of metal rights under
Mining Law. They are so named because the rule in lateritic
concessions is that the gold depleted and the copper enriched as
you got deeper. It is NECESSARY to hold the gold rights before
one hold the deep or "copper" mining rights ergo a decision in
favour of the "copper" rights towards Crystallex makes "it all
over" for Dome.
4. The Supreme Court of Venezuela decides the affirmation of who
has a right to mine, the title holder or CVG/Dome in this sitting.
This is not an appeal of a previous case, but a hearing by
Crystallex to get its TITULAR rights enforced.
5. The previous cases referred in the Financial Post article on
Wilson that Crystallex is supposed to be appealing (denial of
transfer of the claims from Dorothy de Lemon to Inversora Mael in
the province of Miranda by the SUPERIOR court) were overturned by
the Supreme court in 1991 and 1995 where Crystallex was awarded
actual title to the claims in question.
6. The actual chairman of the Mining Commission of Venezuela, a
fact finding body, has stated only a couple of days ago that
Rodrigues Acosta, a congressman from Venezuela, has recently
been stating "personal views" concerning Crystallex and he does
not represent the gov't. Acosta alleges that KRY cannot win the
rights to mine in this sitting of the Court and "has no case"
before any court to win that right. In fact the motions admitted
by the Supreme Court, now being heard, are to have the rights to
mine the metals upheld and affirmed.
7. Eurus Resources' claim that Crystallex misrepresented itself
in deal made two years ago, where KRY claimed ownership of the
Santa Elena concession, is moot as Crystallex has recently
resolved ownership and title to that concession, disproving
effectively the Eurus case.
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