mapGold development darling turned dog's breakfast Lydian International (TSX:LYD) has been given a preliminary endorsement by the Armenian authorities for the alternative location of their proposed heap leach processing facility at the Amulsar gold project, the company said in a news release this morning.

Read: LYDIAN INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES UPDATE ON DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMULSAR GOLD MINE; ARMENIA

The market should see this as a step in the right direction for Lydian which has been under tremendous pressure since the Government of Armenia extended the boundaries of the "catchment basin" for Lake Sevan, Armenia's largest freshwater lake, July 24th. Based on those boundaries, Lydian's intended heap leach location was deemed unacceptable, hence today's alternative.

LYD Weekly (Stockcharts.com)

LYD Weekly (Stockcharts.com)

Lydian's shares had been a favourite of Sprott Global CEO Rick Rule and Exploration Insights editor Brent Cook; both men cited the Amulsar project's strong economics on television and at conferences in early 2013.

In an alert to Exploration Insights premium subscribers on July 24th, Mr. Cook announced that he was selling his Lydian shares.

"We feel this is a purely political, and possibly corrupt, move on the government's part, (the lake is 50 km away) but anticipate a possibly drawn out struggle. We believe this is one of the best gold deposits out there. . .after Quinton's site visit he returned positive and bought shares. . .but [we] are going to sell. I will come back in when this is cleared up."

We have yet to receive any indication from Mr. Cook whether now is the time to get back in.