NMDC to acquire four iron ore assets overseas

NMDC, state-owned iron ore miner, has decided to buy four more properties overseas following the deal to acquire 50% stake in Australia's Legacy Iron Ore last month. It eyes total acquisition cost including payment of initial development cost incurred by the holding companies at around $500 million.

The company has planned to acquire two properties, an iron ore mine certified by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) code of the country and a phosphate mine are in Australia, while the third one is an iron ore deposit in Brazil and the fourth, a coking coal asset of Russia's Vincy Coal. The company aims to acquire at least 50% stake in the iron ore asset in Australia. The Russian coking coal mine will provide access to 100 million tonne of coking coal reserves to the Indian firm.

The entity is looking for the clearance from the board, after which it will take next steps like negotiating and forming the acquisition agreements. The company’s aim is to enter into a deal for all these properties by December.