NMDC in talks to buy coking coal mines in US, Mozambique

Saturday, May 14,

NMDC’s ability to expand its existing mining operations in India are constrained as some of these are in areas threatened by communist rebels,.* which has prompted it to look for resources in Australia, Russia, Armenia and in Africa.

So, the state-run NMDC Ltd. is in talks to buy coking coal mines from privately held U.S.-based Tacoa Minerals LLC, and is also working with India’s Sunflag Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. to jointly buy coking coal reserves in Mozambique, two people with direct knowledge of the plans said.

India’s largest iron ore producer, as part of efforts to acquire raw materials for its steel business, is also conducting due diligence on mining tenements in two projects in Australia–the Legacy Iron Ore Project and Tarcoola Iron Ore Project.

The coking coal mines of Tacoa are in production, while those targeted in Australia and Mozambique are not in production, the people said.

NMDC is also planning a domestic commercial mining coal venture, which would put it in competition with rival state-run producer Coal India Ltd. but which could help in bridging a coal demand-supply gap in India. The coal ministry is now considering NMDC’s proposal, another person said.