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Presidente da Ecometals discorre sobre mineração no Amapá

mail.diariodoamapa.com.br/.../3629-presidente-da-eco...

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2 days ago - Avanços e recuos da extração de riquezas do subsolo amapaense, alguns
judicializados Diário do Amapá – O senhor é o presidente da Ecometals, os propri...

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President of Ecometals discusses mining in Amapá

Advances and retreats of the extraction

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Daily Amapá - You are the president of Ecometals, owners of single manganese project in Amapa, ie manganese cells and the tailings basins in Serra do Navio.Could you tell us about the progress being made ​​to put this wealth in production?
William Lamarque - Yes. We came to Serra do Navio nine years ago and are the Ecometals Manganese controlling shareholders of Amapá Ltda, Emal, a company based in the state, which owns and manages the manganese project. The project is technically simple, easy to sell, but we've been faced with a number of challenges, first, our original partner who repeatedly ignored the terms of our joint venture agreement (fortunately it is no longer our partner), and subsequently by a succession of adventurers who he persuaded to finance useless and desperate lawsuits on their behalf in federal and state institutions, as well as in state and federal courts. We always kept our faith that the courts would finally and reject this absurd and I'm happy to say that the Amapá Court corresponded to that trust. We still need a court decision in order to finally turn the page and start our operations.

Diary - This should be a great relief.We understand that there is a widespread criticism outside Brazil about the integrity of government institutions and the judiciary's ability to provide fair decisions in a timely manner.Do you agree with that in the light of your experience?
William - Well, I'm not dizento that if procedures were faster they would not be welcome, but in the end we got there. I had the privilege to attend a session of the Court, earlier this week, and I was impressed how the cases were difficult to be judged, in particular one that occurred before the trial that had direct interest, the case came the state regarding the legality of an adoption, a difficult decision naturally very important for the child's foster mother. The sensitively with what the public prosecutor has appeared impressed me greatly and also put our trade dispute in its proper perspective. As for the administrative institutions, the new state government certainly seems in a few months in office, has adjusted lax procedures in some departments with which we deal earlier. In short, the interface between mining projects and governments tend to be a little impatient in the world, but we felt comfortable that we will a fair relationship here because our rights are safeguarded and the operating environment is generally satisfactory.


Diary - Why Amapá is the only maritime state which does not export minerals?
William - This is a sad statistic. You certainly can not just blame the infrastructure. We have the only railway in the northern Amazon, the port is suitable and efficient, although it can not receive ships with capacity greater than 45 000 tonnes factor affecting the economic viability of charging ores for long distances, particularly to China, when prices for steel, such as iron and manganese ore are pressed. Surely the former governor apparently did not show, among its priorities, the Amapá is a good and safe place for private investment. But the key factor is that now has far fewer disponívies financial resources for exploration or mining projects at an early stage than in 2008. In fact, it is now almost impossible to finance projects in the initial stage in public financial markets anywhere in the world. Amapá has a very limited number of established projects and new projects will not probably will not be implantandos until the capital becomes more available whatever the attractions of jurisdiction. Importantly, there is an iron ore project in early stage, close to Porto Grande, funded by a group of investors based in New York, and were encouraged by us. This project could become very interesting in a year or two. The unique design material being excavated, loaded on trains and exported is our project, we design begin shipments in July this year.

Daily - Do you believe that iron ore projects established in Amapá permanceram closed?
William - This is a matter for Zamin and Unagem. The price of iron ore is very low and I have no knowledge of the extraction costs and logistics of them, and even what are the intentions of both companies.

Daily - So Ecometals Manganese is the best state of the prospectus for new jobs in the mining sector?
William - I believe so. We aim to employ approximately 130 people (direct and indirect jobs) in addition to those already employed in our office in Macapa.

Daily - Some voices state government and elected representatives of the state have shown concern about the deterioration of the railway. Do you have any concerns about this?
William - No. Zamin leads the railway under the terms of the concession of the Amapá state. It is a duty and obligation to keep the railway line in good condition for her and others. I do not imagine that the state government will allow that must be avoided, especially given the fact that so many lives and not insignficantes state revenues depend on the railroad remain open for the safety and effectiveness of operations.

Daily - You already concluded on terms satisfactory negotiation for use of the railway?
William - I'd rather not comment on our negotiations which are underway.

Daily - Well, in conclusion, we wish you good luck in Serra do Navio and thank you for your time.
William - Thank you very much and we were delighted.
Was managing partner of Balor Capital Management LLC, since October 2007 and Gold Street Advisors LLC, since September 2007, companies that specialize in commodities trading and risk management comodities.Depois derivatives having been General Manager of China Trading Division of Jardine Matheson in Hong Kong, Mr. Lamarque joined NM Rothschild and Sons Ltd. in London, where he became Executive Board Member, after serving for several years as General Manager of the group in China, based in Hong Kong.

Subsequently became Managing Director of Rothschild Inc. in New York, with the responsibility of financing for commodity trading groups and metals in the Americas.
Member of the Board of Directors of Handeni Gold Inc. since March 2012, as Vice President.
He is Director of Ivanhoe Mines since June 2006.
It is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ecometals Ltd. since January 2011