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Crisis reaches the inner and closes mining
The Wednesday was a surprise and despair for more than 400 employees Mirabela Brazil Mining, which operates in the municipality of nickel Itagibá, State Southwest Region, 370 kilometers from Salvador. Yesterday morning they began to receive notices, indicating they were being laid off because the company will close the doors. The Mirabela.a is the only mining company that explores nickel sufetado in Bahia and settled in Itagibá in late 2008.

At a meeting with employees yesterday morning, the mining company announced that all employees will be laid off and the company will be closed temporarily. The news fell like a "bomb" in the city, which has more than 50% of its revenue from of the mining activities and its closure will have in addition to the 600 employees without jobs, another 500 will be affected indirectly in outsourced activities .

In the early afternoon yesterday the company, through its Press Office, said it made the decision due to lower financial levels of the nickel market, with the price quoted at $ 3.50 / pound (one of the lowest prices in history metal), making impossible the continuity of operations of Mina Santa Rita. The note also said it will make a final ore shipment (Port of Ilheus) scheduled for March 20 and it will continue to operate normally in the next 30 days to make the realization of this shipment.

After the notice of all staff, more than 400 employees Mirabela will be turned off, however, the company will maintain all its infrastructure and a small internal team to ensure compliance with legal and environmental commitments in force. According to the note of the company, prior to the decision by the closure of activities, we analyzed all solucionais scenarios, the long and short term, but no strategy has shown a feasible solution to business continuity at this time.

credit retained
Besides the difficulties with international nickel sulphide prices, considered Mirabela accused the Government of not having released funds retained ICMS credits (Goods and Services Tax).According to the company statement issued yesterday afternoon, from the month of October 2015 came up trying to release 45 million Mirabela ICMS credits.

The mayor Itagibá, Marcos Valerio Barreto moved to Salvador and said today he will meet with the State Secretary of Finance, Victor Manuel to find a solution to the problem. "It's a disaster, as more than 60% of the municipality's income comes from the mining activities. And with its closing we can not help the hundreds of unemployed, "he said. In addition to the Secretary of Finance, the mayor of Itagibá said that today also will meet with the Secretary of State of the Government of Institutional Relations, Josias Gomes.

One of the Union of directors of Metallurgists and Miners of Bahia, Luiz Victor Santos, said workers were even warned that they would be laid off on Wednesday. He explained that in such cases, the company should have made a prior statement at least 15 days in advance. "We get the pants in his hands, because only this morning (yesterday) is that we learn, which generated a wave of despair among workers and the population of Itagibá" he said.

Because of the volume of layoffs at once, the union intends ingresssar in labor courts with a Redundancy Action Mass as a way to ensure that workers laid off some agreements, such as ensuring the maintenance of a health plan for at least a year, and the incorporation in the termination of determining the number of overtime wages.

The mayor Marcos Valerio, the closing of the mining company, which is located in the Santa Rita, the District of Marail Guan, directly affects the cities of Itagibá, Ipiaú, Ubatã and Ibirataia.

And $ m Itagibá more than half of the local trade lives due to the activities of the company and the income earned by the municipality, around R $ 1.5 million, including constitutional transfers from the federal and state governments, more than 50% dependent of transfers that were made by the mining company.

Mine Itagibá is the 2nd largest in the world

The discovery of nickel sulphide mine in Itagibá was performed by Mirabela greater worldwide, after Voisey's Bay, discovered in 1993 in Canada by Inco - Valley. A subsidiary of Australia's Mirabela Nickel, the miner explores the Nickel Concentrate, injecting about 38 million per year in the EU economy, state and municipality.

His exploration of mine is in the Santa Rita, in the city of Itagibá, the Ilheus, 60 km Jequié and 370 kilometers from Salvador. The annual production of ore concentrate is transported by 140 kilometers by highway, BR-330 and BR-101 to the port of Ilheus, and then exported to Norilsk, in Finland, where it is transformed into industrial products.

The exploitation of nickel sulfide ore began in 2003 when she signed with CBPM (Mineral Research Company Bahia) a complementary research contract and lease promise. In 2004 it was designed the nickel sulfide deposit with 0.62% Nickel content and 00:16% Copper.

In 2005 it started the environmental assessment work of the project, which ended in 2006 with the License Location and Deployment. In 2007 began the implementation activities of Mina Santa Rita, which culminated in Operation License and early operational phase in 2009.

City loses more than US $ 24 million with the transfer of funds

Of R $ 38 million that Mirabera Mining ensures that transfers to the public coffers of the Federal, State and County, US $ 38 million from the Financial Compensation for Mineral Resources Exploration (CFEM), a kind of consideration for the economic use of mineral resources each region. CFEM was created with Constiotuição 1988.

Of total resources, Mirabela ensures that passes 65% (R $ 24.7 million) annually for the city of Itagibá, where is located the Fazenda Santa Rita, only nickel mine exploration in Bahia. also states that 23% of the R $ 38 million are transferred annually to the state government through VAT, and 12% for the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The miner began sufetado nickel production at the end of 2008 season and m the international ore prices were being sold to U $$ 12.00 a pound. With the crisis, which began in 2014, the figure dropped to $ 8 and the company claimed that it was already operating at a loss, according to the financial manager of the company, Milson Mundin. With the current economic downturn experienced in China, the largest buyer of nickel, the ore value yesterday was $ 3.70, decisive as the closure of the company's activities in the state.

investments
Besides the direct unemployment itself more than 400 workers in Itagibá, closing Mirabela will also affect social activities that were being made in the municipality. One affects more than 10 people who were enrolled in environmental education programs in the municipalities of Itagibá and Ipiaú, and 3,600 students from both municipalities enrolled in the Sustainable Action Program.
The mayor Barreto Marcos Valerio, the immediate solution is to enter the company develops in Bahia Program, which allows businesses to have extended time for payment of ICMS up to 90% of the monthly outstanding balance. "If not that the city breaks and will be chaos, because there is no other source of income in the region," he said.