Here is the President's Update:
International Business Investments
PRESIDENT?S PAGE
March 31, 2000 -- #5
Movin? forward.
Many shareholders enquired last week about our trip to England. Yes , indeed! There was some steak and kidney pie, a few pints, and even high tea and crumpets. And even a ?bug? picked up on the airplane.
However, as you will note from today?s News Release, the visit became a turning point for IBI moving forward.
My meetings with Hans Hansen and his gracious wife Diana were delightful on a personal level. However, of real significance were the business meetings and strategy sessions.
Firstly, a few comments about Hans. At age 57, he is a young fellow, like myself, and certainly still has a lot of energy and drive for the job at hand. Moreover, with that many years behind him, he represents a wealth of relevant experience.
You will note from the name that he was born in Denmark, but emigrated to Africa as a teenager with his parents. In his early years he was very active in agriculture, owning and/or managing major farming operations in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. He also started a number of commercial business enterprises. In the 1990s, he was a part-owner, director, and mine manager for the Shawa Vermiculite Mine in Zimbabwe. He was responsible for all aspects of the mining activity, from excavation and processing to export, accounting and customer relations.
He is the ideal person as Manager of Operations for our mining subsidiary, Canmin Resources Limited.
Hans is very much a ?hands-on? person with excellent creativity and ingenuity; at the Shawa mine he designed and fabricated the majority of the processing equipment, all at low cost. He will do the same for Canmin. In addition, Hans has a very solid business sense and acumen.
On a personal level, his interests include classical music, philosophy, reading and hiking. As well, he speaks Swahili.
The previous financial plans can only be described as grandiose. Acquire lots of equipment and buildings?including all the possible bells and whistles. This makes the project big, and indeed ?valuable?. This also means that you sell your soul to the ?financiers?.
There are other ways to build a business plan, and we have adopted an approach which will get us into commercial production by the fall of this year----at low cost.
Hans arrived in Uganda last Monday, and has reassembled his team that had worked on Phase 1 of the project in mid-1999:
Gizaw Shibru - manager of administration
Wilson Ongom - site-manager
Christopher - accountant
The Canmin office in Kampala has now reopened and is operational.
I will be going to Uganda in mid-April to work on some corporate and financing matters. The joys of being President?three needles yesterday and three more next week!
The News Release outlined the status of financing. We have raised about $400,000 of the private placement, and there is about $100,000 remaining for subscription. Please contact the office if you would like to participate.
I expect that there will be a lot of additional news after my return from the mine site.
I thank all shareholders for their loyal support while we have been quietly putting together these pieces of the plan.
This teamwork is building SHAREHOLDER VALUE!
Gary A Fitchett CA
President and CEO
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