Hindustan Copper forms JV with NALCO and MECL

Hindustan Copper Limited has signed a Joint Venture Agreement with National Aluminum Company Ltd. (NALCO) and Mineral Exploration Company Ltd. (MECL) - CPSEs under Ministry of Mines – for constituting a JV company namely Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL).

The equity stake in JV of NALCO, HCL and MECL would be 40 per cent, 30 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively. The authorised capital of the joint venture (JV) company is Rs. 100 crore. The objective of the JV is to secure the strategic mineral interests of India. At present, there are strategic minerals like Tin (Sn), Cobalt (Co), Lithium (Li), Germanium (Ge), Gallium (Ga), Indium (In), Beryllium (Be), Niobium (Nb), Tantalum (Ta),Tungsten (W),Bismuth (Bi), Selenium (Se), etc. that are either not available in India or not available in the desired quantity.

The JV is set up for identification, acquisition, exploration, development, mining and processing of strategic minerals overseas for commercial use and meeting country's requirement for these minerals. It will help in building partnerships with other mineral-rich countries like Australia and those in Africa and South America, where Indian expertise in exploration and mineral processing will be mutually beneficial and bring new economic opportunities.

On Friday, the stock of Hindustan Copper closed at Rs 31.90 making an intra-day high and low of Rs. 32.10 and Rs. 31.05 per share, respectively. Whereas, the stock of NALCO closed at Rs 43.90, down by 2.23 per cent. It made intra-day and low of Rs. 44.75 and Rs. 43.75, respectively.