"I know for fact that management will seek to secure a settlement, that we will not be mining las cristinas and that the Chinese will seek to obtain a deal with Venezuela to mine Las Cristinas. That process will be conducted in a manner that will secure a buyout of Crystallex - that aspect I remain confident of because if I wasn't certain I would sell."

With all due respect Teutracker, do you ever go back and read your own older posts and list the number of other issues you were absolutely confident of, but where something quite different actually happened.

I don't disagree with you that KRY will eventually get a settlement and that they will not be mining LC. The Chinese may or may not end up mining LC and LB but even the Chinese have limits as to how much stuffing around they will take from the Venezuelans. Even Russoro with their "favoured partner" status are getting the run around and are making no profits.

What I do think will happen is that there will be a half hearted attempt to buy out KRY by someone, not necessarily the Chinese, just as there was an attempt by Russoro to take over GRZ obviously made at Hugo request. The deal offered was an insult and was rightly rejected. I predict the initial offer made to KRY (regardless of who makes it) will also be too low to be accepted.

I still maintain the best course that KRY can take is to continue to ICSID arbitrarion as quickly as possible, alone, sharing with no other party and only accept a prior settlement if that settlement is financially viable. An ICSID result will take time, but anything else is wishful thinking IMO and further delaying the ICSID application and hoping for something better is just wishing and hoping, In the end the resulting delay would actually harm the arbitration case and waste funds that the company will need to fight it. Venezula has dragged their feet at every step because it suits them to drag the process out. Every delay increases the chances that KRY will run out of patience or money and be forced to settle for a pittance.

Just my humble option.... If you call this "soft bashing" so be it.. I write it as I see it and while I am not always right, events show that I am not always wrong either.....

PS. I have been personally involved with several negotiations and deals with Chinese companies and individuals during the 1990's. I found them to be quite hard nosed businessmen, but always polite. They were always concerned with the company's bottom line and their own personal responsibility to the company. They were not in the charity business.