NMDC to acquire coking coal mine in Russia

September 24th, 2011 - 9:37 pm ICT by IANS  

Kolkata, Sep 24 (IANS) India’s top iron ore miner NMDC Limited is close to acquiring a coking coal mine in Russia with an estimated reserve of about 70 million tonnes. The company will seek board approval for the acquisition within a few days.

“We have sent a team to see the coal mine,” NMDC chairman Rana Som told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on energy security here Saturday.

“Tomorrow the officials are returning,” he said. “We have identified the mine as it is small and manageable. It has 70 million tonnes coal resource. In the next 10 to 12 days, we will take a board-level view on the acquisition.”

The state-run company is trying to form a farm pact with Severstal, the largest producer of steel in Russia.

“We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Severstal,” Som said. “We are trying to convert the MoU to MoA (memorandum of association). They (Severstal) have said that the coking coal mine they have will be transferred to the joint-venture against a reciprocal arrangement for iron ore by NMDC.”

The two firms agreed to build a steel plant in Karnataka to manufacture auto grade steel. NMDC is to supply iron ore from its nearby mines, while Severstal plans to source coking coal from its captive mines in Russia.

“We are also looking for a mine in Alabama in the US,” Som said. “Our team is now doing due diligence. We expect that within ten days we will get a report.”

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