Bloomberg reported that African Minerals Limited, studying a USD 2 billion iron ore mine expansion in Sierra Leone is considering acquisitions in commodities such as copper and steelmaking raw materials.

Mr Keith Calder CEO of African Minerals Limited in a phone interview from London said that “There are significant opportunities in West Africa, across commodities and across countries, that we will be extremely well-positioned to take advantage of,” adding that his primary focus is the existing Tonkolili mine and Pepel expansion project.

African Minerals, which has a market value of USD 1.2 billion, began iron ore shipments from Tonkolili in November 2011, making it Sierra Leone’s largest producer. The price of the steelmaking raw material, the most-shipped commodity after oil, more than tripled in the past decade, encouraging mining companies to expand in new regions and away from more traditional hubs such as Brazil and Australia.

Mr Calder said that “We are looking at anything that’s related to steelmaking, anything that’s related to infrastructure like copper. The infrastructural-based commodities that are driving the Chinese, the Indian, the South American economic growth, I think those are very attractive.”

He said that ‘‘I don’t think we are targeting a specific size of investment. ‘I think we will just be looking around to find what makes sense and what’s available.’’