An international consortium led by Korea Resources Corp. recently submitted a bid to develop a coal mine lot in Mongolia, the state-run resources developer said Monday.

The consortium of nine Korean, two Russian and four Japanese companies seeks to obtain the right to develop the Tavan Tolgoi mine.

The region has one of the world’s largest untapped deposits of coal for making steel with around 1.2 billion tons, KORES said.

Korean partners include state-run Korea Electric Power Corp., POSCO, LG International Corp. and Daewoo International Corp. Also part of the group are Sumitomo Corp. and Russian Railways.

“The competition for the mine bid is projected to be highly competitive as the region is one of the few mines in the world which is rich in steel-making coal,” KORES said, adding that rivals include China, India, the U.S. and Australia.

The developer’s bid is known to be worth more than 2 trillion won ($1.6 billion).
Mongolia is expected to name the preferred bidder for the project in mid-February.

By Koh Young-aah (youngaah@heraldcorp.com)