Tata Steel acquires 51% stake in Canada’s Labrador Iron’s Howse deposit

Tata Steel acquires 51% stake in Canada’s Labrador Iron’s Howse deposit Tata Steel has confirmed that it has acquired a majority stake in Canada's Labrador Iron Mines Holdings' iron ore resources for C$30 million (nearly Rs 163cr).

As per terms of the strategic deal, Labrador Iron Mines Holdings will transfer 51 per cent stake in its Howse deposit to the Canadian minerals arm of Tata Steel, called Tata Steel Minerals Canada.

In turn, Tata Steel Minerals Canada will transfer its Timmins 4 deposit to Labrador for C$3 million, which will be recoverable from sales.

The Howse deposit has nearly 28 million tonnes of iron ore, while Timmins 4 deposit has resource of 1.7 million tones.

Announcing the strategic deal, Tata Steel said in a statement, "The two companies have agreed to co-operate with each other in various aspects of their respective iron ore operations in the Labrador Trough."

H M Nerurkar, Tata Steel's managing director, said that deal would enhance the raw material security for the steel giant and streamline the logistics of its DSO project.

Tata Steel had bagged Canadian iron ore project DSO in 2008, with the acquisition of a stake in New Millennium Iron Corp.

In the past five decades, the Labrador Trough has delivered over 2 billion tonnes of ore and attracted $15 billion from global companies in mining investments.