RYMM Royal Mines and Minerals Corp (CE)

CERTAIN U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

You should carefully consider, among other things, the matters set forth under the heading “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” in the prospectus supplement. The following discussion summarizes certain of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the purchase, beneficial ownership, and disposition of Notes.

We do not plan to request a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) regarding the tax treatment of the Notes, and the IRS or a court may not agree with the tax treatment described in this preliminary pricing supplement.

U.S. Holders

There are no statutory provisions, regulations, published rulings or judicial decisions addressing the characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of securities with terms that are substantially the same as those of the Notes. Under one reasonable approach, each Note should be treated as a put option written by you (the “Put Option”) that permits us to (1) sell the reference asset to you at maturity for an amount equal to the Deposit (as defined below), plus any accrued and unpaid interest, acquisition discount and/or original issue discount on the Deposit, or (2) “cash settle” the Put Option (i.e., require you to pay to us at maturity the difference between the Deposit (plus any accrued and unpaid interest, acquisition discount, and/or original issue discount on the Deposit) and the value of the reference asset at such time), and a deposit with us of cash in an amount equal to the “issue price” or purchase price of your Note (the “Deposit”) to secure your potential obligation under the Put Option. We intend to treat the Notes consistent with this approach and the balance of this summary so assumes. However, other reasonable approaches are possible. Pursuant to the terms of the Notes, you agree to treat the Notes as cash deposits and put options with respect to the reference asset for all U.S. federal income tax purposes. Because the term of the Notes is not more than one year, we intend to treat the Deposits as “short-term debt instruments” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Please see the discussion under the heading “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—U.S. Federal Income Tax Treatment of the Notes as Indebtedness for U.S. Federal Income Tax Purposes—Short-Term Obligations” in the accompanying prospectus supplement for certain U.S. federal income tax considerations applicable to short-term obligations.

On the cover page we have determined the yield on the Deposit and the Put Premium with respect to each Note, which are treated as described in the section of the accompanying prospectus supplement called “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Certain Notes Treated as Deposits and Put Options”. If the IRS were successful in asserting an alternative characterization for the Notes, the timing and character of income on the Notes might differ.

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If the Notes are automatically called on the Early Redemption Date, you should generally recognize no gain or loss with respect to the Deposits, and you should recognize the total Put Premium received as short-term capital gain at that time.

On December 7, 2007, the IRS released a notice that may affect the taxation of U.S. holders of certain notes (which may include the Notes). According to the notice, the IRS and the Treasury Department are actively considering whether a U.S. holder of such notes should be required to accrue ordinary income on a current basis, and they are seeking comments on the subject. It is not possible to determine what guidance they will ultimately issue, if any.

It is possible, however, that under such guidance, U.S. holders of such notes will ultimately be required to accrue income currently and this could be applied on a retroactive basis. The IRS and the Treasury Department are also considering other relevant issues, including whether additional gain or loss from such instruments should be treated as ordinary or capital and whether the special “constructive ownership rules” of Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code (which are discussed further in the prospectus supplement) might be applied to such instruments. It is unclear whether any regulations or other guidance would apply to the Notes (possibly on a retroactive basis). Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the notice and the possible effect to them of the issuance of regulations or other guidance that affects the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the Notes.

U.S. holders who are individuals (and, to the extent provided in future regulations, entities) may be required to disclose information about their Notes on IRS Form 8938—“Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets” if the aggregate value of their Notes and their other “specified foreign financial assets” exceeds $50,000. Significant penalties can apply if a U.S. holder fails to disclose its specified foreign financial assets. We urge you to consult your tax advisor with respect to this and other reporting obligations with respect to your Notes.

U.S. holders that are individuals, estates, and certain trusts are subject to an additional 3.8% “Medicare tax” on all or a portion of their “net investment income,” which may include the coupon payments and any gain realized with respect to the Notes, to the extent of their net investment income that, when added to their other modified adjusted gross income, exceeds $200,000 for an unmarried individual, $250,000 for a married taxpayer filing a joint return (or a surviving spouse), or $125,000 for a married individual filing a separate return. U.S. holders should consult their advisors with respect to the 3.8% Medicare tax.

Non-U.S. Holders

We currently do not withhold for tax on coupon payments made to non-U.S. holders of the Notes. However, if we determine that there is a material risk that we will be required to withhold on any such payments, we may withhold on such payments at a 30% rate, or require an appropriate and valid IRS Form W-8 from non-U.S. holders to avoid withholding for tax.

Non-U.S. holders also are subject to the general rules regarding information reporting and backup withholding described under the heading “Certain U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding” in the accompanying prospectus.

LINKED SHARE ISSUER AND LINKED SHARE INFORMATION

We urge you to read the following section in the accompanying prospectus supplement: “Reference Assets—Equity Securities—Reference Asset Issuer and Reference Asset Information”. Companies with securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which is commonly referred to as the “Exchange Act”, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, which is commonly referred to as the “’40 Act”, are required to periodically file certain financial and other information specified by the SEC. Information provided to or filed with the SEC electronically can be accessed through a website maintained by the SEC. The address of the SEC’s website is http://www.sec.gov. Information provided to or filed with the SEC pursuant to the Exchange Act or the ’40 Act by the company issuing the linked share can be located by reference to the linked share SEC file number specified below.

The summary information below regarding the company issuing the linked share comes from the issuer’s SEC filings. You are urged to refer to the SEC filings made by the issuer and to other publicly available information (such as the issuer’s annual report) to obtain an understanding of the issuer’s business and financial prospects. The summary information contained below is not designed to be, and should not be interpreted as, an effort to present information regarding the financial prospects of any

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issuer or any trends, events or other factors that may have a positive or negative influence on those prospects or as an endorsement of any particular issuer. We have not undertaken any independent review or due diligence of the SEC filings of the company issuing the linked share or of any other publicly available information regarding such issuer.

Description of Hypothetical Examples

The Table of Hypothetical Values at Maturity below, based on the assumptions outlined for the linked share, demonstrates the return that you would have earned from (i) an investment in the Notes compared to (ii) a direct investment in the linked share, based on certain percentage change between the initial price and final price of the linked share and depending on whether the Notes are called prior to maturity (prior to the deduction of any applicable brokerage fees or charges).

In the Table of Hypothetical Values at Maturity some amounts are rounded and actual returns may be different. The following is a general description of how the hypothetical values in the table were determined.

If the closing price of the linked share is at or above the initial price on the Call Valuation Date, the Notes will be called for redemption at a cash payment per Note equal to $1,000 payable on the related Early Redemption Date. You will also have received the applicable interest payments up to the Early Redemption Date.

If the Notes are not called prior to maturity, the final price of the linked share is determined on the final valuation date.

If the final price of the linked share is at or above its initial price, you will receive a payment at maturity of $1,000, regardless of whether the protection price was ever breached during the term of the Notes.

If the final price of the linked share is below its initial price but the closing price of the linked share never fell below the protection price during the term of the Notes, you will receive a payment at maturity of $1,000.

If the final price of the linked share is below its initial price and the closing price of the linked share fell below the protection price during the term of the Notes, you will receive, at our election, either (a) a number of shares equal to the physical delivery amount, plus a cash amount equal to the fractional shares multiplied by the final price or (b) the cash amount equal to the principal amount that you invested reduced by the percentage decrease in the price of the linked share.

In any case, you would also have received the applicable interest payments accrued up to either the Early Redemption Date or the maturity date. Since the reinvestment rate for each coupon payment is assumed to be 0.00%, assuming no change in the closing price of the linked share from the initial valuation date to the final valuation date, if the coupon yield on the Notes exceeds the dividend yield on the linked share, the total return on the Notes would be higher relative to the total return of an investment in the linked share (subject to any differences attributable to potentially different tax consequences from investing in the Notes as opposed to investing directly in the linked share).

If you had invested directly in the linked share for the same period, you would have received total cash payments representing the number of shares of the linked share you could have purchased with your $1,000 investment on the initial valuation date (assuming you could invest in fractional shares) multiplied by the final price of the linked share. In addition, investors will realize a payment in respect of dividends which will equal the dividend yield multiplied by the $1,000 investment. Investors should realize that for purposes of these calculations the dividend yield is calculated as of the initial valuation date and is held constant regardless of the final price of the linked share.

Since the reinvestment rate for any dividend payment is assumed to be 0.00%, assuming no change in the closing price of the linked share from the initial valuation date to the final valuation date, if the coupon yield on the Notes was less than the dividend yield on the linked share, the total return on the Notes would be lower relative to the total return of an investment in the linked share (subject to any differences attributable to potentially different tax consequences from investing in the Notes as opposed to investing directly in the linked share).

In each instance, the percentage gain or loss from an investment in the Notes and a direct investment in the linked share is set forth below in the Table of Hypothetical Values at Maturity.