THE most powerful points he made in his call were:

1. 40,000 to 50,000 independent miners(legal & illegal) who have been mining for 2 - 3 generations which he said was a very politically touchy area. They know how to do nothing else and they are currently working(mining) in or close to the Imataca as well as other areas.

2. Grz & Kry would(as we know) employ significantly better environmental methods of extracting Gold. And then there is the cost of repairing the degradation of existing and future work to be done. If Minbam can't pay the miners what it owes them for a year+, how will they restore the land?

3. Grz has and I remember Kry stating they have also helped local miners with techniques to better preserve the environment and will expand that knowledge once Grz & Kry are up and running.

4. He referred to Gold mining only - there is probably multiples of those numbers mining other commodities. The AN, Mibam, Chavez and even Minbam MUST address those numbers of people in the direction VZ goes with mining and any new laws. As DB said this is a "Political Hot Potato".

5. VZ, Chavez, Sanz and even the Bagel Broad cannot get away from these issues if the want to stay in power and WE know the best way to solve their/those problems is issue permits and get real companies with the technical capability and $$$ moving forward, building and running the mines.