This was officially release feb 19, but didnt show up on most headlines related to Crystallex.

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 19, 2007 -- Q4 Web Systems announced today that Canadian based gold producer Crystallex International Corporation (TSX: KRY) has chosen Q4 Web Systems to automate its corporate website disclosure processes.
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=217098

My take on this is why would anyone upgrade to an automatic weapon without any ammo to shoot?

NYYgrad...that blurb showed up on my Fidelity, but I don't know that I see it as anything more than a joint marketing announcement.

But just in case...do not go to lunch!

PDAC is coming up in the next few days in Toronto. Are you attending this year, Bill? Any pre-conference thoughts or things you are looking forward to seeing? I really enjoyed your commentary from the "front" last year.

Poor old KRY. Must be a very frustrating process having to wait in line for Hugo's decision. There are many in line waiting for their buyout and with Hugo dishing out huge sums to his regional friends he needs to get the coffers back in order. KRY will just have to wait its turn and hope being Canadian they get a sympathic ear from the Mining Mimister and Hugo's blessing. I am going to hold out to the bitter end come hell or high water, or should I say when the gold starts to pour into shining bars.

THIS FROM TODAY'S wsj
March 1, 2007, 1:15 pm
From a Carlyle Founder, a Warning Shot
Bill Conway, one of the titans of private equity, is warning his peripatetic deal makers to be careful. Perhaps the whole industry–and its lenders– should pay heed.

The last day of January, Conway, co-founder of Carlyle Group and its gifted chief investment officer, offered up his annual state of the world letter to hundreds of Carlyle investment professionals worldwide. The letter, which we got our hands on, offers a unique window into private equity thinking.

Mr. Conway has a knack for anticipating trends. Lately, he is fretting about the flood of money washing through markets and financing today’s mammoth deals.

“I ask myself what I would do if the excess liquidity ended tomorrow?” Mr. Conway wrote. “OUR STRATEGY SHOULD EVOLVE TO TAKE LOWER RISK DEALS AND EARN LOWER RETURNS, RATHER THAN HIGHER RISK DEALS AT ONLY SMALL INCREMENTALLY HIGHER RETURNS.” (And those were his capital letters.)

He urged Carlyle people to seek “downside protection”, whether by paying down debt, pulling in strategic partners or finding “multiple and early exit paths.” He also suggested defensive industries, like consumer products (“coffee and a donut?” Mr. Conway suggests), and careful control of spending in portfolio companies.

He wants to get as much wiggle room with creditors as possible. “Are our covenants loose enough?” he asked his people, referring to the performance requirements that credit agreements often prescribe. The portfolio companies of private-equity firms have been issuing lots of “covenant lite” loans, meaning ever-looser standards–or, ideally, none at all. It seems Mr. Conway wants lite to go even lighter.

He attributes today’s stunning private-equity returns less to the investment geniuses in Washington, New York and other cities and more to conditions in the debt market. “The fabulous profits we have been able to generate have resulted from the availability of cheap debt. There is so much liquidity that even ‘our’ lenders are making very risky credit decisions,” he adds.

Such cheap, condition-free debt has allowed Carlyle and other private-equity firms to reduce their own risk in deals by quickly taking money off the table. It’s simple: issue debt and pay yourself a dividend, as Carlyle it did with Hertz.

Still, in so doing, the giant private-equity firms are magnifying the risk they impose on their portfolio companies. In the past, when markets turned, equity got wiped out first. Today, in buyout land, it is possible for the equity holders to emerge relatively unscathed while debt holders suffer significant losses.

“Last year, I asked you to be humble, ethical and optimistic,” Mr. Conway concludes. “This year, I am asking you to be careful as well.”

Indeed.

–Henny Sender

Horatio - In telecoms in VZ a specific permission is required for "change of control" of a concession. KRY may have a second stage where patience is required.

Also, it's possible KRY, despite their pre-existing concession, may fall under the new mining law which is being drafted.

Thus, KRY stock could drift back to 1.20 if this happens, and as the impatient depart. On the other hand, the environmental permit could come out next week and make us all very happy! -