India?s MOIL looks at acquiring overseas assets KOLKATA...

India?s MOIL looks at acquiring overseas assets

KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) ? Indian manganese miner MOIL was seeking to buy manganese ore assets in South Africa, Gabon and Turkey, while also exploring a proposal to revive the government-owned Kisenge manganese mines in Katanga province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

MOIL?s interest in manganese assets is a followup of bilateral agreements between India and the DRC under which the Indian government has committed assistance in providing technical and financial resources in modernising the development of the mining industry in the DRC, officials in India?s Ministry of Mines said.

?We have floated expression of interest for acquisition of manganese assets overseas. We have received six quotations but they are not complete. Some clarifications have been sought which we are yet to receive,? MOIL chairperson and MD K J Singh said, without disclosing specifics of the assets.

?The quotations received include forming of joint ventures, outright acquisition of mining assets and long-term supplies of manganese. Only after receiving clarifications shall be evaluate the technical and financial viabilities before finalising contracts,? he added.

The company has set aside a corpus of $504-million to increase manganese ore production to 1,5-million tons a year from current levels of 1,1-million tons a year, by 2015 and further to two-million tons a year by 2020 through development of virgin deposits within the country.

MOIL was allocated a reserve across 814 ha by the government of the western Indian province of Maharasthra and was awaiting a prospecting licence before starting operations.

MOIL operates ten mines across a total area of 1 788 ha, that is estimated to have total reserves of 60-million tons or 58% of total manganese mineable reserves in India. Of the ten mines, six are located in the Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharasthra and four in Balaghat in central Indian province Madhya Pradesh, which are the largest under the fold of the company.

MOIL will invest $7-million to ramp up production from the Balaghat mines from 300 000 t/y to 500 000 t/y and also set up a 500 000 t/y capacity beneficiation plant at the site.

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