I've been following this story for quite a few year, with a little skin in the game. It certainly has been a learning experience.

I don't know that trying to partner with a Chinese firm was a bad idea at the time and I think Crystallex was hearing that it was being seen in a favourable light by Vanezuela. Unfortunatly, that little exercise cost us money and time. Here we are now trying to stay alive and with no cash.

There is still value in the company but much of it is conditional and longer term. Hugo will die, and will possibly be replaced by someone that is more business friendly. Even in that case, I think we need to go through the ICSID to get a settlement amount. A new government would have to deal with the Chavez legacy and try to keep Venezuela itself out of default.

If GRZ gets a settlement, then maybe that would change things as we would have a new floor value. Maybe Venezuela would then try to get another miner into the equation to buy GRZ and possibly us as we are adjacent mines after all.

If Chavez stays on, oil production will grind lower and lower due to operational incompetence, and more of what is produced will go directly to China. Severe economic strife will follow and China will want to still get paid, possibly with other assets such as mines. Anyone that mines Las Cristinas will however have to pay up.

Unfortunately, all these scenarios are in the future and any near term investor would have to discount our value due to the uncertainty.