Mitsubishi Corp. to Expand Iron Ore, Coking Coal Interests

Mitsubishi Corporation’s ferrous raw materials division tries to secure additional captive resources. The division started study to add annual 10 million tonnes level of interest of coking coal through expansion of Australian joint venture while the unit tries to add 30 million tonnes level of captive iron ore resources mainly by new development in Western Australia. The unit could expend 1 trillion yen for 10 years. The unit studies 15-20 million tonnes expansion in 7-8 years for operations of BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), which is 50/50 joint venture with BHP Billiton. For the expansion of BMA with 58 million tonnes of annual output capacity, Mitsubishi Corp expects to invest 300-500 billion yen just for the mining operations.The unit tries to expand the iron ore interests from current annual 7 million tonnes to 30-40 million tonnes by 2025. The unit will launch annual 26 million tonnes of operation at Jack Hills iron ore project, in which the firm has 50% interest, as early as in 2012. The firm tries to find the feasibility of around 20 million tonnes of iron ore operation at Baffinland deposit in Canada while the firm conducts iron ore exploration in Guinea. The firm also invests for expansion of iron ore joint venture with Rio Tinto, Iron Ore Company of Canada, in which Mitsubishi Corp has 26.2% interest, from current 17.5 million tonnes per year to 22 million tonnes in 2011. The firm also expands 50/50 joint venture with Cia Minera del Pacifico, CMH from current 5.2 million tonnes to 7.2 million tonnes by 2011.