CRYSTALLEX o....o.....

09.02.2009

CrystallexInternational discussing possible merger to move ahead on Las Cristinas goldmine

VHeadline Venezuela News:Crystallex International Corporation (KRY) executives are meeting in Torontolater today, Friday, to discuss a possible merger with Vancouver-basedRussian-owned Rusoro Mining Ltd. to move ahead on the exploitation of the giantLas Cristinas gold mine in southeastern Venezuela.

Caracas-based journalist Elio Ohep says that President Chavez hasalready made it known that there is no way Crystallex will be given a finalpermit to mine at Las Cristinas given the company's previous involvement withDr. Enrique Tejera Paris who had resigned as Venezuela's then ambassador toMadrid (Spain) to take on an executive role in the trans-national. The TejeraParis law firm has represented Crystallex in Venezuela for a number of years andhas worked closely with its subsidiary in Venezuela, Crystallex de Venezuela CAthrough a jungle of bureaucratic processes which ground to a halt last year whenthe final EIS permit was denied.

• Crystallex' Venezuelan lawyer Luis Felipe Cottin is in Toronto today to argue the subsidiary's case on claims that it may still get the coveted prize of the final permit, but in Caracas Elio Ohep says it's simply not in President Chavez' forward planning to concede any benefit to those he considers to have worked against the better interests of Venezuela and his Bolivarian Revolution.

In London, Rusoro Mining's Agapov GroupCEO Andre Agapov has adamantly refused to discuss whether or not his companyhas designs on either Las Cristinas or Crystallex but it is known from a recentinterview that he had planned to open discussions with Crystallex chairmanRobert Fung who is unofficially believed to be in favor of amerger/buy-out/whatever if approached by the Russians. Despite objections fromCottin, it is understood that Fung is a pragmatist who understands that it isonly through a deal with the Agapov Group that any significant advances can bemade towards actually mining Las Cristinas.

Although Rusoro Mining's CEO GeorgeSalamis in Vancouver told Reuters yesterday that his company is no longerinterested in making a deal with Las Cristinas' neighbor Gold Reserve (GRZ) forthe adjoining Las Brisas de Cuyuni gold field, it is believed that the strategyis to allow GRZ CEO Doug Belanger to take the wrath of his routed shareholdersand "rot in hell" until a later date when the financial mechanics can moreeasily be sorted out and Belanger can be exorcised from Gold Reserve to becomepart of a very much larger picture in Venezuela's burgeoning gold miningsector.

As regardsCrystallex International and any "arrangement" that may be arrived at thisweekend, Crystallex vice president Richard Marshall has refused to speakdirectly with VHeadline Venezuela but has just emailed us that he is NOTprepared to comment "rumors and speculation!" but equally has not responded toour request to either confirm or deny VHeadline's well-sourced updateinformation.

Roy S.Carson