Sesa Goa, India's largest producer and exporter of iron ore in the private sector, is to acquire 51% stake in Western Cluster Ltd for a cash deal worth $90 million.
Sesa Goa is a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources which is a London stock exchange listed mining firm headed by Anil Agarwal. Western Cluster Ltd is a Liberian iron ore mining company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elenilto Minerals & Mining LLC.
Western Cluster Ltd is to develop the Western Cluster iron ore mining project which is spread over 270 sq km in the western part of Liberia. The property is said to have mining assets of potentially one billion tons of iron ore resources. The deposits are located close to the coast along Monrovia to Mano River.
Sesa Goa managing director PK Mukherjee said that they were highly delighted with this opportunity to consolidate their iron ore business. The Western Cluster Project presented an excellent opportunity for developing a large integrated mining operation and establishing their presence in Liberia and Africa.
Western Cluster has concessions to mine the Mano River Iron Ore Deposits, the Western portion of the Bomi Hills Iron Ore Deposits and the Bea Mountain Iron Ore Deposits. Delaware based Elenilto Minerals & Mining LLC. Elenito had won the rights to develop these iron ore resources under an agreement with the Liberian government in 2009.