NMDC looking at more overseas acquisitions

Close on the heels of its successful acquisition of Legacy Iron Ore in Australia, state-run National Mineral Development Corporation ltd (NMDC) is looking at acquisitions in Brazil, Mozambique, Russia, the US and South Africa.

''NMDC is actively pursuing acquisition of overseas strategic mineral assets with the objective of meeting its own requirements and also towards raw material security for the country's steel and fertiliser industries,'' a company release said today.

In Brazil, NMDC said, it has identified an iron ore asset, very close to port, with reserves more than 1 billion while it is looking at coking coal assets in Russia and in Mozambique with estimated reserves of more than 50 million tonnes and 150 million tones, respectively.

NMDC plans to use Legacy as a spring board for further acquisitions in Australia.

The company is carrying out due diligence of a rock phosphate asset, which it has been following for some time. Once it is over NMDC plans to go ahead with the acquisition process.

NMDC said it is also in talks with a few companies and their projects are being evaluated by the internal team and is also in the process of appointing consultants for their comprehensive due diligence.