Mirabela Nickel, a mining company with a focus on Brazil, has signed agreements with Marcosa and Sotreq to acquire the mining fleet for its Santa Rital nickel project. The fleet will include eight Caterpillar^® 777-90 t haul trucks, 19 Cat 785-137 t haul trucks, three Cat D9T track-type tractors, two Cat 834H wheel dozers, three Cat 16M motor graders, one O&K RH90C loading unit, three O&K RH1210E loading units, and various construction and auxiliary Cat mining equipment. The total contracted price is around $55 million.

Mirabela is also pleased to announce that it has signed a fleet financing commitment letter with Caterpillar Financial of Zurich, Switzerland, under which Cat Financial has agreed to arrange financing for 90% of the cost of the mining fleet. The financing will be available upon the delivery of the equipment starting in April 2009. The commitment is subject to satisfaction of various conditions precedent.

Nick Poll, Managing Director of Mirabela Nickel: “We are pleased to reach this important milestone in the Santa Rita project and to join forces with Marcosa and Sotreq, strong and well-established Caterpillar dealerships in Brazil, to support our operations of the project. This agreement ensures that Mirabela will have the necessary equipment to fast-track the development of the project.”