By Stewart Bailey

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Crystallex International Corp., the Canadian miner awaiting approval to develop Venezuela's biggest gold mine, said only President Hugo Chavez can award the permits it needs to proceed with Las Cristinas.

The process has stalled in the office of Environment Minister Yubiri Ortega, who is opposed to foreign companies extracting the country's natural resources, Crystallex Chief Executive Officer Gordon Thompson said yesterday. The company is hoping Rodolfo Sanz, the newly appointed minister of basic industries and mining, will intervene on Crystallex's behalf, Thompson said.

Sanz ``has to satisfy himself that there is no political liability,'' Thompson said in an interview in Toronto, where his company is based. ``Our view is that he'll walk into Chavez's office and say, `Issue it.' ''

Ortega didn't immediately respond to calls to her communications office.

Crystallex has sold shares to fund operating costs during its four-year wait for permits for Las Cristinas. Delays have persisted even after Vice Minister of Mines Ivan Hernandez pledged in May to boost mining's role in the economy to reduce the South American nation's reliance on crude-oil income.

Ortega's ministry approved Crystallex's final environmental- impact assessment in June and requested taxes and bonds to secure a permit, the company said in October. While the money has been paid and security lodged, the permit has yet to be issued, Thompson said.

Visit to Mine

The company is unlikely to get its own audience with Chavez to plead its case and will have to rely on Sanz to press for permission to go ahead with the mine, Thompson said. The minister requested a visit to Las Cristinas during a meeting with Crystallex's management three weeks ago, Thompson said.

``He's a tough, no-nonsense businessman who will make things happen one way or another,'' Thompson said. ``He's not the man who will sit on the file.''

Crystallex said it expects Las Cristinas to yield an average 233,000 ounces of gold a year at a cost of $346 an ounce over a life of about 64 years.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stewart Bailey in New York at sbailey7@....

Last Updated: March 5, 2008 08:50 EST

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