TORONTO, ON - Marc J. Oppenheimer, President and CEO of CRYSTALLEX INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION (KRY: TSX , Amex) increased its revenue, its production profile and its gold production over the past 12 months, deepening the foundation for steady growth, President and Chief Executive Officer Marc J. Oppenheimer today told shareholders at the Company's Annual General Meeting.

"This shouldn't come as a surprise," Mr. Oppenheimer said. "These are the results we expected our growth strategy to produce, and frankly, we expect continued growth in the future. We have made quality investments," he added, "and implemented plans that have significantly increased our visibility in the mining industry and the investment community."

Mr. Oppenheimer noted that the Company's initial strategy has not changed, and has only accelerated because of the Company's proven ability to find and finance high potential acquisitions and to increase their longer-term productivity.  "The increasing cash flows from these operations are expanding our platform from which we can make bigger and better acquisitions and develop our existing properties," he said. 

Discussing several of the Company's more recent acquisitions in detail, Mr. Oppenheimer said that while all that activity has produced five year compound annual growth rates of 87 percent for revenue, 89 percent for gold production and 30 percent for shareholders' equity, the most important increases came in the Company's resources and reserves.

"Although each of these properties was acquired at a cost well below its asset value, each possesses potential that may not have been readily apparent to most observers when we made the acquisition, perhaps not even to the previous owners.  Crystallex is beginning to realize this potential in increased gold reserves and economies of scale," Mr. Oppenheimer said.

Using the Company's San Gregorio operation in Uruguay as an example, he pointed out how efficiencies introduced by the Crystallex management team dramatically reduced costs and increased cash flows.  Mr. Oppenheimer then turned to the Venezuelan operations and said that data obtained from last year's drilling program enabled the Company to increase the probable reserves at its La Victoria mine by approximately 54% from 2.8 million tones grading 3 grams per tonne to 4.3 million tonnes at the same grade. 

"The Tomi acquisition has also allowed us to delineate additional reserves that were only hinted at when we acquired them," Mr. Oppenheimer said, referring to the new underground operation that will access first ore in the third quarter 2002.  "The potential to expand the reserves through further drilling is excellent."  He continued, "We have also identified similar (underground) potential in our Albino 1 concession where we operated our first open-pit mine back in the mid-nineties." 

The Albino underground mine, which will access first ore in 2003, contains approximately 180,000 tonnes of proven and probable underground reserves grading approximately 14.8 grams per tonne.  These reserves are part of a measured and indicated resource of 3.3 million tonnes grading 4 grams per tonne.  "When you combine the operations of Albino 1 and the Tomi underground, the real value of these concessions becomes apparent.  Combined, the two operations are expected to yield an internal rate of return of 84% at a gold price of US$300," Mr. Oppenheimer said.

A key element in the success of the Company's Venezuelan operations is its "Hub and Spoke" strategy, Mr. Oppenheimer said.  "Imagine the Revemin mill as the hub of a wheel that circumscribes the three gold regions and our Venezuelan concessions as the spokes. We have the Tomi Mine and Lo Increible in the El Callao district, Santa Elena in the El Dorado region and Albino 1, Carabobo in Kilometre 88.  All of these regions are within trucking distance of the Revemin mill. We do not need to build separate facilities to process material from these concessions.  We can economically truck it to Revemin for processing with much greater efficiency, resulting in a lower cost per ounce of gold recovered."

Mr. Oppenheimer said that the Revemin mill will be expanded in two phases, which, when phase two is completed in 2003, will raise its capacity to 3,000 tonnes per day.  That would be sufficient to produce more than 150,000 ounces of gold from Crystallex's current Venezuelan concessions. 

Touching on the subject of the Las Cristinas concessions in Venezuela, Mr. Oppenheimer told shareholders that he is very optimistic that the ownership issue surrounding these concessions will be resolved soon. "Today, we are optimistic we will be able to quadruple our resources and increase our reserves by an even greater amount.  That is what will happen if we receive final approval from the Government of Venezuela to begin development of Las Cristinas," Mr. Oppenheimer said.

Mr. Oppenheimer concluded his remarks saying that although the Board of Directors, management team and shareholders can look at the past six years with a high degree of satisfaction, the Company will not rest on its laurels.  "There are many opportunities to repeat the successes of San Gregorio, Revemin and La Victoria.  Our challenge for the future is to find the best ones and apply our unique skill sets to grow our revenues and cash flows more rapidly, and take us far beyond the position that we currently hold in the mining industry."

About Crystallex
Crystallex International Corporation is an emerging intermediate gold mining company. The Company owns or controls a number of strategic properties in South America. Crystallex's strategy for growth is to develop its portfolio of properties in South America as well as to diversify geographically by investing in producing or near-production projects and by exploring properties of merit in other areas of the world.

On Behalf of the Board:

Marc J. Oppenheimer, President & CEO

For Further Information:
Contact:  A Richard Marshall, VP at  (201) 541-6650 or Andrea Boltz at (604) 683-0672
To receive previous Company releases:  (800) 758-5804  ext.114620
Visit us on the Internet:  http://www.crystallex.com

Note: This news release may contain certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.  All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of Crystallex, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties.  There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed from time to time with the Canadian Provincial securities regulators, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed this release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.