Obviously a lot to be concerned about with this deal particularly being collateralized by sovereign debt - a default could severely impact that. But there are many positives too as presumably it will enable GRZ to get going on the mining side - there is plenty of gold to cover this debt.

VZ showing a willingness to pay this ICSID award is a clear positive for us. I thought we had a better relationship with VZ than GRZ - I thought this was the main reason for holding off on ICSID until there was no choice. I don't recall Fung ever being criticised by VZ, but maybe my memory is faulty.

I suppose VZ could argue that their willingness to pay should mean they don't have to post a bond whilst appealing US court rulings but better to be positive and hope the court requires a bond. Maybe they will then offer us installment payments - I think that would be preferable to trying to sieze and monetize Citgo. I'm more optimistic now that we will see substantive progress this year.