By Mukesh Jagota
NEW DELHI--India's Sesa Goa Ltd. (500295.BY), which owns
Liberia's Western Clusters project, will start iron-ore mining
operation in the African nation by the end of this year, Liberian
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said Wednesday.
The Western Clusters project has iron-ore resources in excess of
one billion metric tons and saleable product of 330 million tons.
Sesa Goa, a unit of Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN), purchased 100%
of the project for about $123.5 million in 2011.
Mrs. Sirleaf, who is on a five-day visit to India, said
ArcelorMittal (MT) has started exporting iron ore from the West
African country. ArcelorMittal currently exports five million tons
a year and it plans to expand shipments to 15 million tons during
the second phase of its operations, she said.
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer and a large
iron-ore producer, started mining iron ore in Liberia in 2011.
Global mining companies and steel producers are flocking to the
region to develop large deposits of the raw material used in
steelmaking. West African countries, which are rich in mineral
resources including iron ore, bauxite, gold and manganese, are
seeking to develop their resources with international investors to
boost local development and reduce poverty.
Indian iron-ore suppliers such as Sesa Goa are looking to expand
overseas as mining in India is hit by court restrictions following
investigations into illegal mining. India was the world's
third-largest iron-ore exporter until two years ago, but it has now
started importing the raw material because of a domestic
shortage.
Mrs. Sirleaf said another Indian company, Jindal Steel &
Power Ltd (532286.BY), is negotiating with the Liberian government
to install a power plant.
According to media reports in India, Jindal Steel & Power is
looking to set up a 350-megawatt plant.
Write to Mukesh Jagota at mukesh.jagota@wsj.com
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