Wuhan Steel signs agreement with Riversdale Mining

Wuhan Iron & Steel (600005.SH) signed a US$800 million non-binding agreement Thursday with Riversdale Mining (RIV.ASX) for an 8% stake in the company and a 40% stake in one of the Australian firm’s Mozambique mines, reported the South China Morning Post. Riversdale Mining has also joined a partnership with China Communications Construction (1800.HK) that offers the Chinese firm the right to purchase 10% of the offtake from Riversdale’s Benga coal project. The acquisition values the 9 billion ton Zambeze coal project at US$2 billion. The Benga and Zambeze projects will operate at full capacity by the end of the decade, producing 30 million tons of hard coking coal and 10 million tons of thermal coal.