JUNIOR MINING

Rejected El Pauji Concession not part of Gold Reserve Las Brisas orebody

Yet another Venezuelan Government roadblock has been thrown into the path of the development of the Las Brisas copper and gold project; this time denial of a concession needed for infrastructure.

RENO, NV - 

Gold Reserve President Doug Belanger said a Reuters story claiming the Venezuela Government has refused to extend a concession for the Las Brisas gold copper project is erroneous.

In a statement Tuesday, Belanger said, "Reuters and other publications erroneously reported that this was the mining rights for the Brisas Project when in fact the action by the government relates to an infrastructure only property that contains no mineralization."

Gold Reserve does not own the El Pauji concession but has an easement that allows the company to use the El Pauji surface rights for infrastructure purposes for the Las Brisas project. The concession is part of a number of land parcels surrounding the ore body located on the Brisas Alluvial and Veta concessions comprising the Brisas project.

On January 17^th, Spokane-based Gold Reserve applied for an extension of the concession term. "Our Venezuelan attorneys have advised us that, pursuant to Article 25 of the mining law, the extension is automatically granted."

"Ignoring its own regulations and laws, MIBAM through internal reports dated April 29, 2009, and May 12, 2009, almost one year after the six month time period elapsed, assets without evidence or prior notice that the company is not in compliance with its obligations in regarding to the concession. In September 2008 the company received a certificate of compliance from MIBAM regarding the Brisas Project," Gold Reserve said.

"Recently, MIBAM requested all of the technical information regarding the gold copper project," the company said. "At this time we do not see any benefit in transferring that information to MIBAM."

In a statement, Belanger said, that "despite the prolonged obstruction of our rights to the Brisas Project, it is Gold Reserve's intention to settle this dispute amicably but if that is not possible and the company is compelled to file for international arbitration, we would make a claim for the fair market value of our investment at the time of the revocation of the permit, which we believe was in excess of US$5 billion."