Is Peter Koven Rusoro's new shill. Just like clockwork and almost to the day
this is Peter Koven's article from Jan 6, 2009:

Vancouver-based Rusoro consolidating Venezuela's gold industry
Peter Koven, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, January 06, 2009

George Salamis is confident about Rusoro Mining Ltd.'s ability to get gold
mining done in Venezuela. So confident, in fact, that he believes his company
can break the industry's most famous political deadlock.

Southeast Venezuela is home to Las Cristinas and Brisas, two of the world's best
undeveloped gold deposits. They sit side-by-side in the Kilometre 88 district
and hold more than 30 million ounces of measured and indicated gold reserves.

Crystallex International Corp. and Gold Reserve Inc. have spent years trying to
get permission to develop these projects, but have run into well-publicized
opposition from Hugo Chavez's government.

That has created room for Vancouver-based Rusoro, which is consolidating
Venezuela's gold industry and now has its sights firmly set on Kilometre 88.

Last month, the company launched a $120-million hostile offer for Gold Reserve
(which controls Brisas) and has also expressed interest in Las Cristinas, where
Crystallex has its mining contract.

"The government has said vocally that they're not happy with the situation down
there," said Mr. Salamis, Rusoro's president. "They've got massive unemployment,
and what I would call one of the top five mining environmental disasters on the
go at Las Cristinas."

After emerging out of nowhere in late 2006, Rusoro bought Venezuelan gold mines
from Gold Fields Ltd. and Hecla Mining Co., which tired of the political and
operating challenges in Mr. Chavez's country. Rusoro managed to fix some
problems surrounding those projects, and appears to be the government's
preferred partner for gold mining. The company sees no reason why it cannot
resolve the problems at Kilometre 88 as well.

Rusoro has a big advantage in that its backers -- Russia's Agapov family and
Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra -- have very strong government relations.
The Agapov connection also allows Rusoro to capitalize on the political ties
between Russia and Venezuela.

But Gold Reserve is proving to be a less willing partner for Rusoro than either
Gold Fields or Hecla. The company firmly rejected the takeover offer and
kick-started an ugly war of words that continues to this day.

"If you look at this offer, Gold Reserve would be providing 84% of the cash, 84%
of the gold reserves, and 100% of the copper reserves for 22 to 30% [of the
combined company]," said Doug Belanger, Gold Reserve's president. "It's nowhere
near enough."

Gold Reserve accuses Rusoro of enough ethical lapses to make Rod Blagojevich
blush. It hired veteran forensic accountant Al Rosen to investigate Rusoro, and
Mr. Rosen issued a savage report that raised questions about Rusoro's financial
viability and the large number of related-party transactions on its books.

Rusoro, for its part, firmly rejects any claims of problems with its finances or
its governance.

"Anyone can poke holes in someone else's financial statements and create clouds
around issues that are non-issues. We don't lend any credence to what they've
said at all," Mr. Salamis said.

More fireworks are expected in the coming days, as Rusoro's offer does not
expire until Jan. 21st and Gold Reserve does not plan to go quietly.

But Mr. Salamis is confident that Rusoro will win out in the end, and prove it
has what it takes to operate in Venezuela's most controversial gold district.

"We seem to be successful at getting things done in Venezuela. Our track record
speaks for itself," he said.

http://www.financialpost.com/news/story.html?id=1148217