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Gold/Mining/Energy : Crystallex (KRY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Syncrude who wrote (10122)	10/12/1999 1:46:00 PM
From: richard badauskas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10836

I agree with you that it is difficult to rely on second hand "translation" of Venz. law BUT it certainly makes it very interesting, the whole game on the Las Christinas concession is far from over and probably explains why PDG stopped work on the project. It was not the grade of the deposit, it was the uncertainty surrounding title to the deposit. I would imagine it would be impossible to obtain financing without having clear registered title to the land. I only came across this stock recently and do not have a detailed knowledge, my guess would be that PDG stopped work on the project when they saw drafts of the new mining law and started to digest the ramifications of the absence of having clear legal title. A few weeks ago this did not matter BUT gold has risen dramatically and we NOW a major dispute with great value to the winner.

To: Syncrude who wrote (10122)	10/21/1999 5:48:00 PM
From: tanoose	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10836

Hello Syncrude; Conapri,Oct/11/1999,,,,,,New Mining Law published; Under the special powers granted in the presidential Enabling Law, the Executive used the last few days before the six month deadline to approve several industry laws. In the last few weeks new laws have been published for the mining, gas and electric sectors. An important advance in the new Mining Decree-Law is the conversion of the mining contracts granted by the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG) into concessions guarranteed by the Energy and Mines Ministry. However the conversion is not automatic since it requires a technical evaluation by the Ministry. The Ministry guarantee provides the legal basis needed for important projects such as the Las Cristinas gold mine under development by the joint venture formed by the Canadian company Placer Dome and the CVG. The project is currently based on a production agreement with the CVG rather than a concession. Another positive development for foreign investors is the creation of a one stop office for processing all of the paperwork required by the Energy and Mines, and the Environment Ministries and other agencies. The new facility is backed by the Permanent Interministerial Committee that brings together all the ministerial departments involved. Despite broad consensus on the need to attract private investment into the mining industry and the Venezuelan experience in companies where the state has adopted a business rather than a regulatory approach, the new Law opens mining activities to both the private sector through concessions and to the State. Private mining companies fear state involvement could lead to unfair competition if the regulatory and supervisory body competes with them in the market. On the other hand, the concept of "staking a claim" present in the 1945 Law is eliminated. Under this system, mining concessions were granted to whoever filed a claim with the Ministry. Although still present in the Law, this concept has not been used for many years because all mining exploration and production on national territory have been reserved for the State since 1977. Experts on mining legislation are urging the use of this type of concept or the dismantling of barriers to exploration. They believe that the key to the development of the sector is to promote prospecting and exploration by offering incentives to the private sector, which are needed because of the low probability of success and the high initial investment costs. Moreover, modern exploration technologies are environmentally friendly, removing the need for strict regulation of this area. Private industry has reacted negatively to the tax levels established in the new Mining Law. Although there is a three-year holiday from the surface tax (bolivars per hectare per year), it now becomes a progressive tax calculated in tax units: more tax is collected in proportion to increases in the production are, which discourages large projects. The production tax, calculated as a percentage of the value of production, was also increased, although with the possibility of a reduction at the discretion of the Executive. conapri.org With regards,Frank