India Resources IPO raises A$11mln, to develop India operations

Melbourne, May 21 (UNI) The initial public offer (IPO) of a West Australian mining explorer company India Resources' Ltd (IRL) has closed oversubscribed, raising 11 million Australian dollars, which it will use to develop resources opportunities in India.

The offer opened on April 23 when IRL sought to raise 10 million dollars with an over-subscription facility of one million dollar.

Company's Chairman Michael Kiernan said strong demand for the company's shares demonstrated the quality of the company's assets and growth opportunities in India.

''We welcome new shareholders on board, and look forward to driving the projects in India to the next phase,'' Mr Kiernan added.

Investors have a great opportunity within the Indian resources industry, which is not as developed to the extent as Australia's and South Africa's, primarily due to the lack of exploration and cost-effective mining techniques, he said.

India Resources is planning to open a mothballed copper mine in Indian state of Jharkhand in close cooperation with government-owned Hindustan Copper Ltd.

The company's primary project is to re-open the Surda copper mine in the Singhbhum copper belt in India and to extract 4,500 tonnes of copper concentrate per annum.

IRL also plans to participate in other mining projects in the South Asian country.

''India has world class ore bodies and we look forward to growing our local relationships to mine resources using Australian cost effective mining techniques,'' Mr Kiernan said.

IRL is also gearing to investigate, according to the Company's statement, development of a diverse range of other resource opportunities in India.

''There is a growing view within India that the Australian mining industry can deliver the expertise to drive efficient extraction of resources to meet domestic demand,'' Mr Kiernan said.

India Resources proposes to list on the Australian Stock Exchange in late May.

UNI