By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--Steel titan ArcelorMittal (MT) said Friday it has agreed
to purchase a near 50% effective stake in Guinea's Mount Nimba
iron-ore project, signalling its continued interest in growing its
mining business despite tumbling prices for steel-making raw
ingredients.
Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal agreed to buy out two
shareholders in the project, BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Areva SA
(AREVA.FR), for an undisclosed sum that would give the world's
largest steelmaker a 56.5% stake in Euronmiba Ltd., a company that
holds a 95% stake in the Mount Nimba deposit. ArcelorMittal may
reduce the stake to 50% if Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM), the sole
remaining shareholder, exercises an option granted by the
steelmaker to equalize their holdings.
The deal is contingent upon the Guinean government granting
permission for ArcelorMittal to ship the ore across the border into
Liberia. The deposit lies 40 kilometers from ArcelorMittal's
existing Liberian iron-ore mine, which means the steelmaker could
take advantage of its existing rail and port infrastructure in
Liberia to lower the costs of developing the project.
The deposit is also high quality with 935 million tons of
resources that can be directly shipped, without processing, at an
average grade of 63.5% ferrous content.
Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal's chief financial officer, declined
to comment on the price tag or how long it might take to close the
transaction but said the approval to ship iron ore through Liberia
was "critical" to the transaction. He also said it was too early to
discuss any project details such as development cost or production
capacity.
For BHP, the deal is in line with the company's strategy to exit
West Africa and focus on developing much larger assets such as its
existing iron-ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western
Australia. BHP has been looking to sell its 43.5% stake in
Euronimba for nearly two years.
The Mount Nimba project is effectively 41.3% owned by BHP and
41.3% owned by Newmont Mining. France's Areva owns a 12.4%
stake.
-Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires