INFORMATION ABOUT MAYASA

Mayasa was incorporated on March 31st, 1982 and it is the successor of the Autonomous Entity called Consejo de las Minas de Almadén y Arrayanes (Board of the Almadén and Arrayanes mines), which controlled the operations in those mercury mines during the previous 70 years.

Since its incorporation, Mayasa has focused its activity in the operation and marketing of the natural resources of the Almadén area.

Its long mining and metallurgical experience in exploiting mercury and its byproducts (red oxide, yellow oxide, calomels, etc...) has allowed it to provide services for preparing and operating mines, technical consulting (mostly in mining research and prospect), geology, drilling, the environment and civil engineering, with the development of its own technologies.

Besides, Mayasa carries out other activities, such as farming and stockbreeding at the Dehesa de Castilseras.

Industrial Plan

The Almadén mines are located on the Southwestern part of the province of Ciudad Real, and have been in operation since Ancient times, during the Roman Empire. In these mines is located the largest known mercury deposit in the world, from which comes about a third of all the mercury which has been consumed by mankind along History.

Mercury´s environmental problems, which have provoked the adoption of very limiting measures on the part of the European Union, together with the low profitability of the operations and the market conditions, provoked the paralyzation of the production activities in 2001, and the final interruption of the production of mercury, on July 2003.

The Company Plan for the period 2002-2005, which was subscribed by the trade unions, answers this interruption of the mining and metallurgical activity, with measures which include the adaptation of the Company´ structure and the promotion for the generation of alternative jobs. Once this Company Plan ceased to be in force, the new Community scenario has meant for Mayasa the need to think again about its situation, which resulted in a new Company Plan for the period 2006-2011, and which is based on the following objectives:

Almadén Project

The SEPI Group, through Mayasa itself, with the collaboration of a number of the Group companies, such as Enusa and its affiliated company Emgrisa, Sadim (Hunosa), Tragsa, Infoinvest and Sepides, has been working in the project for the environmental restoration and the economic promotion of the Almadén area, through the development of a business park, the support given to industrial projects and the restoration of the mining heritage. The budget for this project exceeds 20 Million Euros.

The Business Park Las Eras de los Barbudillos, located at the South of the town of Almadén, within this township, has been jointly promoted by Mayasa and by Infoinvest, with a 4 Million Euros budget. This project will cover a 183,626 square meters surface, which will include, among other services, the creation of 44 plots for industrial use, with a 122,000 square meters surface and a plot for tertiary uses.

At the same time, the Sepides company is promoting the set up of new entrepreneurial projects into this business park and in the area surrounding Almadén, with the goal of promoting the area´s economy. Currently Sepides takes part in a number of significant projects, which might result in the generation of around 200 new jobs, with a total investment of 115 Million Euros.

Almadén´s Mining Park:

The Almadén Project has among its objectives turning the mining facilities of Almadén into a Mining Park, with the goal of transforming it into a high quality cultural, educative and tourist space, preserving and making use of its industrial, scientific and technological heritage. It is intended that it will act as the engine for the social, economic and cultural development of Almadén and its surrounding area.

This area has been called Almadén´s Mining Park, and it is made up by the following items:

The Almadén´s Mining Park is already underway, and since November 7th, 2006 its is possible to visit some of its facilities, such as the Baritel of San Andrés, the San Aquilino Shaft, the Forzados Gallery, the Mercury Museum, etc., which have been restored to their original conditions during the seventeenth and twenty centuries. All the facilities will be ready for their inauguration this Spring.

The recovery of all the facilities and their transformation into a museum, as well as the development of the Mining Park will entail the investment of over 10 Million Euros. A significant part of the restoration of these facilities has been carried out with EU financing, through the FEDER Fund. The restoration of the Hornos Bustamante (seventeenth century) which have been declared as goods of cultural interest, has been directly carried out by the Ministry of Culture (IPHE).

Environmental restoration

An important environmental restoration is being carried out within the mining facilities and in the surrounding area. It is especially worthwhile the recovery of the dump of the Cerco San Teodoro, the most important environmental project, in which it is envisaged to invest 8.5 Million Euros.

This dump received during centuries the waste material from the mining activities and the waste products of the metallurgical processes, up to a maximum volume of around 3.5 million tones. Its environmental restoration includes earthwork -over half a million cubic meters, the addition of a 30 cm layer of ground and the application of a sealing system, as well as the restoration of the plants and trees cover.

Activity of the company in year 2009:

The financial year has been determined, with regard to mercury commercialization, by a diminishing demand, due both to the contraction of the market itself and to the technological changes in the metal's use. To this we must add the growing restrictions imposed on its commercialization; all of the above has meant that MAYASA sold 6,465 mercury flasks, 30.6% less than in 2008, although it has applied a policy for guaranteeing both the sale price, which experienced a small increase in comparison with the average price during the previous year, and the charge of the shipments before their delivery.

Regarding the stockbreeding activity carried out in the Dehesa de Castilseras, the traditional weaknesses of the industry have been exposed, such as the low prices for producers and the high cost of fodder, while the hunting business has been negatively affected by the economic crisis.

During the year mention must be made to the collaboration agreement reached between the Ministry for the Environment and Farming, MAYASA and the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha for the set up of a National Technological Center for Mercury Decontamination, which was published by the Official State Bulletin (Boletín Oficial del Estado) in February. The goal of this Center is promoting technological research and development, the training of expert technicians, technology transfer and best practices for handling, transporting, managing and storing mercury, both its wastes and the existing surplus.

In financial terms, the operating margin of the mercury activity has not allowed to absorb the losses recorded in the other activities performed by the Company (stockbreeding and hunting), which include the regularization of the inventories and aids, nor the overhead costs, all of which caused a net loss of 1.2 Million Euros, which is worse than the figure recorded the previous year, when the company recorded a small profit.