August 19/2008
Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) and India’s state-run miner NMDC Ltd on Monday signed a pact to establish a joint venture company to seek and mine iron ore and other minerals globally, NMDC Chairman Rana Som said at a news conference. “The two companies will float a joint venture company once they identify mining properties,” Som said.
“We are jointly scouting in Orissa, Tamil Nadu. There are opportunities still in Australia and Brazil,” NMDC Chairman Rana Som told reporters. According to the MoU, the prospecting for mining reserves will begin from Orissa and then in Karnataka.
As per the Memorandum of Understanding, a joint venture company would be formed soon for acquisition, exploration, development and exploitation of mining properties in India and abroad. A joint working group would be set up to identify reserves. The MoU envisages a strategic partnership between the two leading mining companies for prospective iron ore reserves, both internationally and domestically, he added.
NMDC Chairman said the MoU would be solely limited to mining new mineral resources identified by the joint working team. “We have explored a little over one billion (tons) of mining reserves out of the available 12 billion (tons). There is huge space still available, why should we think to go alone,” he said. “Rio Tinto has long been a believer in India as both a major market for iron ore and as a potential world-class source of production,” Rio Tinto Managing Director and CFO (Iron Ore) Alan Davies said.
The collaborative strengths of Rio Tinto and NMDC compliment each other in many circumstances and the company looks forward to working in tandem to identify such opportunities, he added. Without disclosing any financial details Davies said, “At present, we do not have a specified capital plan for the venture. Our teams are conducting feasibility studies and would come up with some reasonable capital estimate.
Source
Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) and India’s state-run miner NMDC Ltd on Monday signed a pact to establish a joint venture company to seek and mine iron ore and other minerals globally, NMDC Chairman Rana Som said at a news conference. “The two companies will float a joint venture company once they identify mining properties,” Som said.
“We are jointly scouting in Orissa, Tamil Nadu. There are opportunities still in Australia and Brazil,” NMDC Chairman Rana Som told reporters. According to the MoU, the prospecting for mining reserves will begin from Orissa and then in Karnataka.
As per the Memorandum of Understanding, a joint venture company would be formed soon for acquisition, exploration, development and exploitation of mining properties in India and abroad. A joint working group would be set up to identify reserves. The MoU envisages a strategic partnership between the two leading mining companies for prospective iron ore reserves, both internationally and domestically, he added.
NMDC Chairman said the MoU would be solely limited to mining new mineral resources identified by the joint working team. “We have explored a little over one billion (tons) of mining reserves out of the available 12 billion (tons). There is huge space still available, why should we think to go alone,” he said. “Rio Tinto has long been a believer in India as both a major market for iron ore and as a potential world-class source of production,” Rio Tinto Managing Director and CFO (Iron Ore) Alan Davies said.
The collaborative strengths of Rio Tinto and NMDC compliment each other in many circumstances and the company looks forward to working in tandem to identify such opportunities, he added. Without disclosing any financial details Davies said, “At present, we do not have a specified capital plan for the venture. Our teams are conducting feasibility studies and would come up with some reasonable capital estimate.
Source
