Ecometals Announces Receipt of Permits to Allow Start of Manganese Exports From Serra do Navio, Brazil
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 08/16/10 -- Ecometals Limited (TSX VENTURE: EC)(BERLIN: GDQ)(FRANKFURT: GDQ)-
Ecometals Limited is pleased to announce that the Instituto de Meio Ambiente Pantanal (IMAP), under the authority of the Secretaria do Meio-Ambiente do Estado do Amapa (SEMA), has issued the following environmental permits to Ecometals Manganese do Amapa Ltda for the Serra fo Navio manganese project:
-- Installation Permit (Licenca de Instalacao) that allows the installation
of the beneficiation plant (crushing/screening);
-- Operation Permit (Licenca de Operacao) that allows the excavation,
beneficiation, loading, transport and commercialization of 600,000
tonnes of manganese mineralized material from stockpiles;
-- Operation Permit issued to Ecometals Ferro do Amapa, that allows the
Company to carry out advanced exploration covering the iron properties,
including trenching and drilling.
IMAP is expected to provide a further Operation Permit next week, that allows the Company to send a bulk sample of manganese mineralized material for metallurgical testing for planning of Phase II beneficiation.
With these permits in hand, Ecometals can now start Phase I of its project to commercialise the stockpiled manganese mineralized material at Serra do Navio at a planned rate of 270,000 tonnes per annum. Commercial shipments are planned to commence in early 2011.
Phase II of the Serra do Navio project will involve the upgrading of the manganese mineralized material using a mineral density jig. Bulk metallurgical testing to optimize process manganese recovery will be used for engineering design and financial modelling. Permitting for Phase II is expected to proceed during Phase I operations so there is no break in the commercial production schedule.
About the Serra do Navio Manganese Project
The Serra do Navio manganese mine in the northern Brazil state of Amapa was operated by Industria e Comercio de Minieros SA (ICOMI) from 1957 until closure in 1997, producing a reported 34Mt of commercialised products.
On closure of the mine, in situ (in ground) resources were reported by Roberto Costa Engenharia Ltda as 1.2Mt oxide @ 38.43% Mn and 4.4Mt carbonate type @ 30.61% Mn mineralised material. These resources are considered 'Historical' under NI43-101 guidelines.
Manganese mineralised material was stockpiled at site over life of mine, and represents various processed products of variable grade and composition The Company previously reported (16 July 2009) stockpiles of 3.3 to 4Mt manganese mineralised material with potential grades in the range 28 to 45% Mn.
Both the reported Historical in situ resource and the stockpiled manganese mineralised material are considered comparable to a potential mineral deposit for which there has been insufficient sampling and test work to determine the average grade or delineate a mineral resource.
Chief Executive Officer Fran Scola said, 'On behalf of the Board of Directors, we congratulate the Brazil team in their long term efforts to obtain Regulatory approval according to process. These permits are important milestones in the development of the Serra do Navio manganese project and for Ecometals.'
Qualified Person
SR McMullan, P.Geo, Vice President of Exploration for Ecometals Limited, is a qualified person according to National Instrument 43-101 definition and has prepared the technical information included in this press release.
About Ecometals
Ecometals Limited is a TSX Venture Exchange listed mineral exploration and development company focused on mineral resources in Latin America. Ecometals has gold exploration projects in Ecuador and also significant manganese, iron and gold projects in Brazil at grass roots exploration and development planning stages.
Safe Harbor Statement: Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements which involve risk and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements.
These include risks relating to the future issue of Operation Permits, changes in economic or environmental conditions and the company's ability to execute its business model and strategic plans. The company relies on litigation protection for forward-looking statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Ecometals Limited - Investors
Fran Scola
Chief Executive Officer
djmajor@ecometalslimited.com
Ecometals Limited - Investors
Daniel Major
ef Operating Officer
scola@lfmpartners.com
Ecometals Limited - Information
Enquiries
info@ecometalslimited.com
www.ecometalslimited.com