The Australian – Timor-Leste Business Forum was held at the Novotel Melbourne on Collins on 26-27 March 2019.

The Forum was well attended with representatives from a wide range of industries and received significant support from Timor-Leste delegates including from the Ministry of Finance, ANPM and TradeInvest Timor-Leste.

The Forum was opened by Katherine Ruiz-Avila, Director, Timor-Leste Section from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with the keynote address by His Excellency Abel Guterres, Timor-Leste Ambassador to Australia.

Ian Sinclair presented at the Forum and both Mary Thompson and Ian chaired parts of the Forum, with Mary also acting as a panel member.

On the initiative of Iron Fortune, we are delighted that Informa, the world’s largest business conference organiser, has announced an Australian – Timor-Leste Business Forum to be held at the Novotel Melbourne on Collins on 26-27 March 2019. The Forum was announced by Joe Magno and Ian Sinclair in Dili, Timor-Leste, during the Institute of Petroleum and Geology’s 4th International Geoscience conference in October 2018.

Mary Thompson will be a panel member during the Forum and Ian Sinclair will be a speaker.

Businesses interested in investing in one of the world’s youngest democracies are encouraged to attend.

To register your interest please go to the attached link at Informa.

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On 1 November Iron Fortune director Mary Thompson participated in an “investment pitch” competition at the International Mining & Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne. Five resource exploration companies with interests in Africa, South America, North America and Australia competed for the prize of a free display booth and free passes to the 2019 conference. The conference was attended by over 6,000 people, a record attendance. The companies presenting were allowed only a five minute presentation and one slide. The selection committee, comprising investment specialists from Australia and North America then questioned the presenters. While the competition was won by an African focussed gold exploration company, Iron Fortune was awarded the second prize of “honourable mention”. There was great interest in Timor-Leste from both the judging panel and audience members, and Mary Thompson also used her presentation to announce that on 26-27 March 2019 the first Timor-Leste resources, petroleum and investment focussed conference to be held outside Dili will be held in Melbourne.

On 25 October during the 4th Instituto do Petroleo e Geologica (IPG) International Geosciences Conference, Miss Joe Magno (photographed) was pleased to make an announcement to delegates on behalf of the leading international conference organiser, Informa.

On 1 November 2018 Iron Fortune director Mary Thompson will present to a panel of international resource experts at the International Mining and Resource Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne during the IMARC Mining Investment Pitch Battle. Iron Fortune has been selected to tell our unique Timor-Leste resource exploration story, alongside other emerging resource exploration and mining companies with operations in South America, Africa and Australia. The company with the winning “pitch” receives a free stand and delegate pass to the 2019 IMARC Conference, but more importantly gains valuable exposure to international resource investors.

IMARC is Australia’s largest mining event, attracting over 6,000 attendees from 90 countries to hear from over 200 global speakers.

https://imarcmelbourne.com/

Iron Fortune has again been invited by the Timor Instituto do Petróleo e Geologia (IPG) to present to its 4th International Earth Sciences Conference from 22 October 2018. Iron Fortune’s topic is Helping Timor-Leste Grow – Unlocking the economic and social potential of Timor-Leste’s minerals and aggregates industries using data.

Iron Fortune Field Work August 2018

Iron Fortune Geophysicist Joe Magno recently joined Dr Brendan Duffy of the University of Melbourne Earth Science Department and two Australian masters students (Brian Lew and Kevin Boland) for 3.5 weeks, completing field work between Fohorem and Lolotoi.  Joe was a valued member of the team, a
ssisting with logistics and interpreting and translating as required. Joe gained skills in structural geological data collection and also proved to be a highly capable driver, safely piloting the field work Toyota Prado through some challenging terrain.  The field work, which included a multi-day river hike, greatly expanded knowledge of the geology of the Lolotoi Metamorphic Complex, which will now form the basis of two theses.

Mary Thompson relocated to Dili in January 2018. Whilst in Dili, Mary worked closely with our Geophysicist, Joe Magno, extended her language skills, business contacts and cultural understanding.

With the political stalemate culminating in the President calling fresh elections that were held in May there was no prospect of progress being made in the on-shore minerals and resources regulatory environment being advanced and Mary returned to Melbourne in March 2018 after enjoying many amazing experiences and learning much.

Both Mary Thompson and Ian Sinclair were in Dili for the International Investment Conference. The conference was well supported by the Government Ministers and bureaucrats, with the keynote address delivered by Prime Minister Dr Mari Alkatiri.

During our visit we were able to join a charter flight to the Oé-Cusse enclave on the north coast of Timor organised by TradeInvest, a governmental body established to assist and encourage foreign investors in the country.  We were able to secure a meeting with the Substitute President of the regional authority, ROAOA, Sr Alesio Bano, and Sr Rui Pinto, Technical Consulting Counsel to ROAOA.

On 28 February 2017, the Directors were delighted to attend the dinner hosted by the University of Melbourne for the signing of the MOU between the University and the Institute of Petroleum and Geology, attended by the Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Alfredo Pires, President Helio Gutteres and Vice President Jorge Martins of IPG and other dignitaries including Professor Mike Sandiford from the University.  Further details are on the Government website

On 2 March 2017 we were delighted to host IPG’s representatives for presentations by Orica Limited and Boral Limited which included viewing a controlled blast at Boral’s Deer Park quarry.

Director, Ian Sinclair, will be in Timor-Leste in April 2017 for a series of meetings in relation to our ongoing minerals and resources research.