Legacy Iron to acquire six coal tenements in Queensland

22 MAY, 2012, PTI
HYDERABAD: Legacy Iron, the Australian arm of state-owned NMDC is set to acquire six coal tenements in Queensland, according to a top official of the PSU.

The move to acquire coal assets is part of company's strategy to become strong in steel making related fields, NDMC director (finance) S Thiagarajan said.

"We have asked them (Legacy) to identify certain properties both in cooking as well as thermal coal. All the tenements are either under investigation or detailed study. We will take decision after we get complete results," Thiagarajan said.

Recently NMDC had acquired 50 per cent stake in Australia's Legacy Iron.

Legacy has entered into an agreement with three companies to acquire six highly prospective coal properties in Queensland, according to an NDMC official.

The company will pay AUD 6 million via staged payments to Subiaco capital, Velarium Holdings and Sara Bella Energy as initial cash payment and refundable deposit.

NMDC will take decision with regard to Mt Bevan iron ore project, a joint venture between Legacy and Hawthorn Resources Limited, by next moth end or July first week, he said.

Legacy will have a 60 per cent interest in the Mt Bevan project by spending a minimum of $3.5 million to develop the project to a pre-feasibility status, a senior official had earlier said.

"The total project needs USD 1.3 billion investments over a period of time. We will have to do some more drilling for the final outcome. We have time till next month to take decision," Thiagarajan said.

The total investment will be made on 70:30 debt-equity ratio, he added.

Mt Bevan is considered to hold excellent potential for the definition of substantial direct shipping ore hematite and magnetite iron resources that are located close to existing road, rail and port facilities, according to Legacy.