Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher

SPOTLIGHT: After MBL deal, Minerita becomes the last iron ore target in Brazil’s Serra Azul

July 19, 2011 - 10:00 GMT Location: São Paulo

KEYWORDS: Minerita , iron ore , Brazil , Serra Azul , Mineração Usiminas , MBL , MMX , Vale , CSN

Minerita, a small iron ore miner with capacity to produce 1.5 million tpy, became the last relevant target for acquisition or a leasing deal in the Serra Azul region, in southeast Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, after Usiminas announced an agreement with iron ore producer MBL late last week

Usiminas’ mining subsidiary, Mineração Usiminas, last week signed a leasing contract with MBL to exploit the company’s minerals rights for 30 years or until the depletion of the reserves, estimated at 145 million tonnes (MB 15 July). It was the latest in a series of transactions in Serra Azul over the past four years, which started with the acquisition of Minas Itatiaiuçu by London Mining in May 2007. “I think we’re indeed the last one, at least in terms of an established mine which already produces and has great potential to expand,” a source from Minerita told MB. Located between Itatiaiuçu and a mine owned by Usiminas, Minerita rejected several acquisition offers between the middle of 2007 and the third quarter of 2008, when the global financial crisis began to keep contenders away, the source said. Proposals started to appear again last year, but the miner has consistently refused them....

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

Please log in using your online subscriber details.
Your username will be your registered email address with Metal Bulletin.

If you aren't a subscriber yet, feel free to take a seven day free trial, or subscribe using the instructions below.

A standard subscription include one year's worth of news and prices. You can also upgrade to the full archive and benefit from more than 13 years of intelligence. Start your subscription today.

Free trial

Taking a free trial will give you open access to Metal Bulletin online news, prices, archived content and email alert service for the next seven days. Start your free trial today.

Free trial

Already have an account?

Iron Ore & Coking Coal

May 24, 2012 02:18 Rail strike halts freight shipments in Canada
May 24, 2012 00:32 LIM gets early start sending year’s first shipment to China
May 23, 2012 17:32 IRON ORE DERIVATIVES WRAP: Index reversal sees OTC prices post losses
May 23, 2012 16:35 Vale in talks with Asian ports on Valemax unloading
May 23, 2012 15:50 Metinvest Q1 revenue flat as steel sales drop, raw materials sales rise

Comment & analysis

EXPERT VIEW FROM ERNST & YOUNG: Horror week favours the brave

Seven days is a long time in the investment world, but last week must have felt longer than most.
COMMENT: When super-cycle poster child BHP Billiton trims its plans...

BHP Billiton is one of the poster children for the commodities super-cycle: a mining company whose immense upstream assets in copper and iron ore have fed the industrialisation of China since the early years of the 21st century and enabled it to return $52 billion to shareholders between 2001 and 2011.
LORD COPPER: There is nothing to fear after JP Morgan loss ...

So, here we go again. Another bank, another huge trade gone bad. This one doesn’t even appear to have been a case of rogue trading; a whole desk seems to have been operating with the full knowledge of the management and/or risk committee.