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March 29, 2010

The Suralco operations of Alcoa World Alumina plan to develop a new bauxite mine to supply its Paranam refinery in Suriname. Hatch has been retained to provide FEL-2 preliminary engineering services for the Nassau Mining Project.

The new mine facility will be constructed in a densely forested region in the Nassau mountain range in eastern Suriname, approximately 160 km Southeast of Paramaribo and East of the Afobakka dam. As part of this project, more than 120 km of haul roads will be constructed to transport the bauxite from the new Nassau facility to the Paranam refinery.

Since 1965, Suralco has been processing bauxite, mined from various sites throughout Suriname, at the Paranam refinery to produce alumina. The Klaverblad and Kaimangrassie bauxite mine site (Successor Mines) developments were supported by Hatch and commissioned in 2006. These two mines are expected to be depleted within the next few years. To continue operations at the Paranam alumina refinery, using local bauxite, the Nassau mine is expected to be developed and start operation as the main bauxite supply source during 2014.

Hatch will perform a FEL-2 prefeasibility study (preliminary engineering), complete with estimates for capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operational expenditures (OPEX).

Our scope is comprised of two service packages. Service A includes the investigation and evaluation of haul-road route options and the development of preliminary designs for roads, bridges, culverts and related items for each option. Service B includes the preparation of preliminary layouts and designs for the central mine and refinery infrastructure. Hatch will also provide complementary engineering and overall FEL-2 management of service packages A and B.

A key objective of the project is to achieve implementation without interruptions to the existing mining or refinery operations.

The FEL-2 engineering study is scheduled to start in March 2010 and is scheduled for completion in August 2010.

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