ICVL may buy coal mine in Australia soon

International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL) today said it is now in the final stages of acquiring a coking coal mine in Australia's Bowen Basin. "ICVL is nearing its first acquisition for a prime hard coking coal mine in the heart of Bowen Basin in Australia," ICVL Chairman C S Verma said at a coal summit here. Click here for Cloud Computing Also Read Related Stories News Now - Mines Bill need fine-tuning: Govt - New Mines Bill provisions need fine-tuning: MCA - Adani in pact to provide 4 MT coal to NTPC - ICVL close to strike maiden acquisition deal - ICVL in talks with Aquila to buy Australian coal asset - Another 2G, in mining? Bowen Basin is rich in coal resources and contributes significantly to the overall production of coal in Australia, which meets nearly 40% of India's coking coal imports. Verma, who also heads state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL), however, did not give further details. ICVL is a joint venture company between SAIL, Coal India, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and NMDC. NTPC was also initially a member of the special purpose vehicle, but later quit. SAIL is lead partner of ICVL. ICVL's objectives are acquisition of coal assets and equity participation in operating coal companies for primarily sourcing coking coal on a long term sustainable basis for the promoter companies. Verma also said ICVL would soon commence due diligence of coal assets in Mozambique and USA for acquisition. ICVL had been set up in 2009 at the initiative of the steel ministry, but it is yet to taste success. Meanwhile, Verma said SAIL's coking coal requirement would go up after the new blast furnaces come into operation in 2012-13. "The requirement at the end of FY13 would be 50% more on annualised basis as compared to the end of FY12," he said. SAIL is likely to consume 12 million tonne coal in the current fiscal.