International industrial and metals group Liberty House has announced that British-based GFG Alliance, which includes Liberty House and the resources and energy group SIMEC, has stepped up its North American expansion program with a consortium bid to acquire all the assets of iron ore producer Mesabi Metallics Company LLC, formerly known as Essar Steel Minnesota LLC, as well as ESML Holding Inc., both located in Minnesota, US.
Liberty stated that the assets include an iron ore pellet plant with an annual capacity of seven million mt at Nashwauk, Minnesota, with an expansion potential to 14 million mt per year.
The bid, which is being made with US-based ERP Iron Ore LLC and investor group Chippewa Capital Partners, will complete construction of the long-awaited iron ore pellet plant at Nashwauk and will add production facilities for higher-value direct reduced iron (DRI) alongside it.
According to Liberty’s statement, under the Mesabi Metallics plan SIMEC will concentrate on the mining side of the business, while Liberty will focus on developing the direct reduced iron (DRI) and hot briquetted iron (HBI) plants, whose products will be used in its electric arc furnaces in the US and globally.