Monday, May 09,
NMDC, the country’s top iron ore producer is likely to acquire 50% stake in two iron ore mines in Australia this month.*
“NMDC is in advanced stage of deals for buying 50 per cent stake each in two Australian iron ore mines – in Western and Southern part. The deals are likely by May,” a source said.
Both the mines together contain an estimated 1,000 million tonnes of iron ore, the source said, adding that the NDMC plans exploration with the partners. However, the names of the companies and the deal size are not known.
The mining giant is eyeing acquisitions to expand its capacity and to ensure raw material security for its upcoming steel mills in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.
NMDC is setting up a 3 million tonnes steel plant in Chhattisgarh. Besides, it has a joint venture with Russia’s Severstal to set up an initial two million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant in Karnataka at a likely investment of Rs 25,000 crore, which can further be expanded to 5 MTPA.
At present, the Navratna firm has annual iron ore production capacity of about 30 MT from 3 fully mechanised mines in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. It aims to almost double the production to 50 MT by 2015.
Source: The Business Line
Leave a Reply