NMDC Ltd

State-run Indian mining firm NMDC Ltd will sign an agreement next week with global miner Rio Tinto to buy mineral assets, the Indian Express newspaper said on Wednesday. The firms are likely to sign a deal on Aug. 18 to float a joint venture to buy mines within the country and abroad, the newspaper said. NMDC and Rio Tinto would jointly acquire, explore and develop mineral properties, Rana Som, chairman and managing director of NMDC, was quoted as saying by the newspaper. NMDC has been increasingly looking to foreign markets to secure raw material reserves, the paper said. With no fresh allocation of iron ore mines within the country, NMDC has signed a joint venture agreement with India's Spice Energy and was close to clinch a deal to acquire mines in mineral-ric