update from nmdc, page-13

Looks like a deal will be done by LCY for Wonorahas as per the following article.


After buying out Australian firm Legacy Iron Ore for about Rs 92 crore last year, state-owned NMDC is eyeing to acquire three more overseas properties by June-July, a top company official said today.

The three overseas assets on its acquisition radar include 26% stake in Brazilian iron ore firm Amplus for around $10-15 million and a coking coal mine in Mozambique, NMDC Chairman NK Nanda said.


"Of this, the agreement to acquire the Mozambique coking coal mine is likely to be signed by the end of this month. We are sending a three-member team there next week for site due-diligence," he said, while declining to name the asset.

Besides, the state-owned iron ore miner is also looking to acquire 50% stake in Wonorah rock-phosphate reserve of Australian firm Minemakers, Nanda said.

"By June-July, we will be completing all the three acquisitions. Due-diligence for the properties has been initiated and is likely to be completed in next 45 days," the NMDC Chairman said.

"These are low-cost acquisitions and we have enough money to fund them," he said, when asked about the deal size for the properties in Mozambique and Australia.

The largest domestic iron ore miner has kept a budget of $500 million for overseas acquisitions.

For the deal with Amplus, NMDC has signed an exclusivity agreement (memorandum of understanding) with the Brazilian firm to invest in exploration of latter's iron ore reserves and provide its technical expertise.

"In lieu of our expertise and investments, they [Amplus] have offered us 26% stake. This will cost us around $10-15 million," he said, adding that Amplus holds iron ore reserves of about 1.5 billion tonne.

Nanda further said that "subject to encouraging report of the due-diligence process, the stake can be increased up to 50%".

The other targeted property, Wonarah deposits of Minemakers, is one of the largest under-developed phosphate reserves in Australia, with an estimated resource of 1.26 billion tonne at 12% phosphate. NMDC has an exclusivity agreement with Minemakers for acquisition of the the property.

The Indian miner will be using Legacy -- its Australian arm -- to acquire the Wonarah deposits, Nanda said.

According to industry sources, NMDC has appointed IMC Group Consulting Ltd for doing due-diligence of Amplus' iron ore reserve and a consortium led by aXYKno Capital Services Ltd for Wonorah deposits of Minemakers Ltd.