Crystallex to submit potential modifications to the Las Cristinas project

Crystallex International Corp. expects to submit potential modifications to the Las Cristinas project during 'the next several days' to Venezuela's government, chief executive Robert Fung said at the company's annual meeting Wednesday. Toronto-based Crystallex was effectively blocked from constructing a gold mine at Las Cristinas last month, when Venezuela's environment minister banned open-pit mining. But on Tuesday, the company reported that it is back in talks with the government over changes to its mine plan that would minimize the environmental impact. That could potentially allow Crystallex to receive the long-awaited permit needed to build the mine. Fung said Crystallex should not have to do any more technical studies before submitting the suggested modifications, so they should be done very soon. He also said that the environment minister that rejected the Las Cristinas proposal was not acting on behalf of the rest of the government and the Ministry of Mines continues to support the project. 'There appears to be a contradiction between two bodies of government,' Fung said. 'That contradiction has to be rectified.'