CARACAS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Canadian gold miner Crystallex (KRY.TO: Quote, Profile, Research)(KRY.A: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it expects to receive an environmental permit at any moment from the Venezuelan government to begin exploiting the Las Cristinas gold mine.

"All of the requirements are covered ... the permit should be assigned to us at any moment," Crystallex Venezuela President Luis Felipe Cottin told Reuters.

He said that the discussion in Congress of a new mining law will not affect the process of approving the environmental permit.

Cottin added that Crystallex could begin production at the mine within 18 to 22 months of starting operations.

Crystallex has struggled to get the mine to production since winning a contract in 2002 to develop the Las Cristinas deposit, considered one of the largest undeveloped gold reserves in Latin America.

Venezuela is revamping its mining law to boost state control over the mining sector of the OPEC nation, which has sparked concerns among some investors that foreign companies' projects could be affected. Crystallex has persistently said the law will not affect it. (Reporting by Fabian Andres Cambero, Writing by Brian Ellsworth; editing by Jim Marshall)

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