1. Brazil Co GME4 Opens Way For Mining In
Non-Traditional Areas
By John Kolodziejski
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
RIO DE JANEIRO -(Dow Jones)- A Brazilian company called Global Mining Exploration, or
GME4 SA, is opening the way for mining development by non-traditional players in non-
traditional regions of Brazil.
Iron ore reserves owned by GME4 in the remote northeast state of Piaui could be the third
largest in the country, GME4 partner Joao Carlos Cavalcanti, a geologist, told Dow Jones.
Almost all Brazil's current iron ore output of more than 300 million metric tons a year hails from
deposits in Minas Gerais State and the Carajas region of Para State in the eastern Amazon,
and is dominated by local mining giant Vale SA (VALE).
Cavalcanti is ambitious. GME4 plans to rival the world's big three miners, Vale, BHP Billiton
(BHP) and Rio Tinto (RTP), and give global iron ore consumers an alternative source of
supply, he said.
GME4's current campaign to sell an 80% stake in its $2.4 billion PI4 iron ore mine in Piaui has
highlighted mining opportunities outside the country's main ore mining areas.
"The PI4 mine will be the second largest in the world in terms of material shifted," he said.
The 800-million-metric-ton PI4 mine is located amid a corridor of iron ore deposits stretching
25 kilometers, Cavalcanti explained.
According to Cavalcanti, factors attracting investors to PI4 include railroad links to two modern
deepwater ports, cheap hydroelectric power and firm state and federal government support.
One of the local ports, Pecem, will soon host a steel mill built by Vale and South Korea's
Dongkuk (001230.SE). The other port, at Suape, is also likely to have a steel mill built by
Brazil's CSN SA (SID), Cavalcanti said.
And foreign investors are aware of PI4's attractions.
A recent Credit-Suisse roadshow promoting the mining-stake sale gathered expressions of
interest from 10 major steel companies, Cavalcanti revealed.

2. In some respects, Cavalcanti is an old-fashioned, maverick prospector with an uncommon
instinct for finds.
In 2007, he mapped iron ore deposits in his native state of Bahia that had been ignored
despite previous geological surveys published in 1849 and 1937 indicating their existence.
Cavalcanti bought up the mineral rights and made more than $300 million from their sale to
Indian mining company Zamin Ferrous. The project is now being developed along with a
railroad link and port complex.
So when Cavalcanti announced the Piaui finds, other miners and investors began to take
notice.
Most major miners are reported to be stepping up their exploration in Piaui.
According to Brazil's National Minerals Research Department, or DNPM, there were 1,555
applications for exploration permits in Piaui in 2008, triple the 2007 figure.
Cavalcanti's self belief and success in the Bahia asset sale have attracted other investment
partners for CME4 in mining ventures.
GME4 is working on two nickel projects, one with Brazil's Votorantim conglomerate and also a
phosphate mine in Brazil.
-By John Kolodziejski, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6086;
john.kolodziejski@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 01, 2009 16:05 ET (20:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.