NMDC eyes iron ore mines in Africa

State-run mining giant NMDC is looking at acquiring iron ore mines in Africa, a top Steel Ministry official said today.

"NMDC has taken initiatives to buy iron ore mines in Africa. Its chairman was recently in Africa and has observed that there is a lot of opportunity to acquire mines there," Steel Secretary P K Rastogi said at a conference here.

When contacted, NMDC Chairman Rana Som confirmed the development and said the company has received a couple of proposals for forming joint venture with African companies to undertake greenfield mining operations.

While one of the proposals is for a magnetite mine in West Africa, the other is for an iron ore mine in South Africa, he said.

"In Africa, there is a lot of mining opportunity, which India as a nation can avail," Som said.

The country's largest iron-ore producer, NMDC, had last month said it would apply brakes on acquiring overseas mining assets due to the present economic downturn.

"Even now we stick to it. We have only received proposals for joint venture from African countries, which we are considering," Som said.

Besides Africa, NMDC is eyeing majority stakes in mining properties in Armenia, Australia and Brazil. Though due diligence of the properties have not been done, the Navratna PSU had inspected a couple of them in Armenia.