TVI

Fellow Employees of TVIRD:

This wonderful time of Christmas is here with us once again.

The Lord has blessed us immensely this year. The fact that we remain strong as a company despite the difficult challenges we - and the rest of the mining industry - have faced during the year, underscores our team’s ability to survive any crisis. While many mining companies around the world are either closing down or laying off employees because of the economic meltdown, we are still operating and moving forward.

I wish to thank all those who worked so capably with me in our efforts to raise the financing we need to be able to produce copper concentrates early next year. Mr. John Ridsdel, our Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, was at the forefront of this achievement. I am also thankful to those who were involved in putting up the Sulphide Plant and support facilities following the committed schedule – led by Mr. Yulo Perez, our Vice President for Philippine Operations – as well as all members of the TVIRD family for staying the course despite the difficult times. My gratitude also extends to all those who are part of Team TVIRD.

And of course, we are ever mindful that it is really TVIRD’s Chairman, Mr. Clifford James, who is conducting the whole time.

Our signing of the documents for the additional Sulphide Project funding is the result of the tremendous efforts of our whole TVIRD team. The pressure was enough for ordinary mortals to give up. But they did not. And now we are fully funded to production.
But I know I do not have to say to anyone on our team that we are not happy in just mere surviving. As a team, we still plan to soar high.

We still have a long way to go and we still face more challenging times ahead. Among the challenges we face is in further improving on our cost efficiencies in the face of such a dramatic and devastating downturn in commodity prices, even as we maximize our revenues. We are a young company and we are still building the systems and the culture that will bring us to our goal of being the preeminent operator in the Philippine mining industry. These will require the involvement of – and continued dedication from – everyone in the Team.

We are at the dawn of a New Year: 2009. There were many obstacles in 2008 and will be even more in 2009 and in the coming years. The key to overcoming obstacles is, first of all, admitting that there are issues to tackle and then applying the political will to solve them. At no other time in the history of our company are our individual contributions and team efforts more needed than now when we are all being called forward to make our company “soar high”. Let us all stand up and be counted in the many hands approach needed to make TVIRD really successful.

For this coming year, I wish all of you peace. While the birth of Christ which this season symbolizes assures us of peace and salvation, His own journey on earth tells us that nothing good happens without suffering, sacrifice, and hard work. We as employees must work hand in hand to ensure that we will continue to build a stronger company. We who believe in the true story of Christmas must remember that even Christ Himself gave us the examples of prayer and hard work. Prayer alone is never enough; it is only a part of the process. We must work hard and fight hard for what we believe is right for us and for our company. Let this Christmas be a new beginning. We should raise the bar of success because, with Christ’s guidance and with our joint efforts, there are still far greater things in store for TVIRD. We can soar high.

Again, please accept my heartfelt thanks for all your contributions and support throughout 2008.

From my family to yours, Merry Chrismas and a truly peaceful and prosperous New year!

Sincerely yours,

Eugene T. Mateo