On a more positive note Mr. Rudakov the head of Polyus, the gold prospecting arm of Norilsk Nickel, recently said that the only thing holding back gold production in Russia was financing i.e. they have the deposits, the know-how and the equipment. Admittedly, he was talking about the major deposits such as Sukhoi Log but surely this must apply at the "lower" end of the scale too - Eurasia now has some dosh after selling the SA interests so if they have the contacts surely they can make a go of it. Mr. Rudakov also made the point that mining development was very benficial for the remote regions of Russia (I suppose he would say that but there again it's probably very true). I, for one, am watching EUA closely just now.