The political circus (Sala 1 v Sala 1V) continues to play out in Costa Rica. The argument has yet to be resolved as to which court has the final word in judicial matters. Both sides were at it again last week. It is surely only a matter of time before Costa Rica is named as the defendant in an ICSID action brought forward by Infinito Gold. The courts decisions / indecision will only enhance Infinto's case which will prove to be one of the quickest decisions reached by an ICSID panel.

Consider this: Infinito Gold has full government approval of the project, has invested millions of dollars in the project AND has not committed or been charged with any irregularities whatsoever. They previously had a case pending at the ICSID regarding the lengthy delay / stalling in the permit approval process but withdrew the application when Costa Rica agreed to follow due process regarding the permitting procedure. The government has acknowledged that it will have to pay compensation. The only question to be answered is HOW MUCH?

SO, I fully expect to see the Costa Rican media to be in a frenzy WHEN Infinito commences action OR if it announces that it will commence action if it does not receive due process in the SALA 1V.  

Venezuela:

At the risk of repeating myself, It shouldn't be much longer now. There was a decision recently handed down by the ISCID re Occidental Petroleum v Ecuador. Occidental won an award of $1.7 Billion and there are similarities with that case and ours. Ecuador follows Chavez's Venezuela politically. It pursued a policy of expropriation of foreign investments and it is also withdrawing from the ICSID. The decision of the panel was 2 - 1. The dissenting arbitrator was Brigitte Stern who is also an arbitrator on the Las Cristinas panel. Her presence and decisions on previous panels have not gone unnoticed. Her dissent on the decision has given Ecuador the impetus to announce an appeal which could delay a FINAL decision by up to 1 year.

If she decides in our favour then I believe we will have a unanimous decision. That my friends will be cause to truly celebrate.

The Occidental written decision was over 300 pages, so you can now understand the time involved in reaching and publishing a decision.

Having said that, we have a very strong case, A VERY STRONG CASE and the decision will be before ICSID's years end (which is only about 7-8 weeks away) . The stock will be very volatile (read upwards) when the decision is published. Its so close, so very close