Bethesda, June 11, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- India Globalization Capital, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IGC) announced the achievement of a milestone in the execution of its strategic plan. IGC has completed a test shipment of 300 tons of iron ore from Mongolia to China. As previously reported, the Company established a shipping hub at the border of Mongolia and China to provide iron ore to its customers in China and source raw materials.
Ram Mukunda, CEO of IGC, said, "Importing from Mongolia has important strategic value. Our beneficiation plants process low-grade ore into high-grade ore. It has been our plan to diversify the source of raw materials, from India and Mongolia, to include grades of ore that are of substantially better quality than our reserves. This test delivery has been a big step for IGC in delivering on the opportunities before us."
Mr. Mukunda spoke of the comparative benefits of IGC's strategy for its anticipated Mongolian reserves. He continued, "On our mine sites in Inner Mongolia, we have reserves that are 2 or 3% Fe content, which is processed into 66% Fe ore using a dry magnetic separation process and a wet magnetic separation process. The 66% high-grade ore is then sold to steel mills. 70 truckloads of raw material are required to produce two truckloads of higher-grade iron using the dry separation process, and the two truckloads of higher-grade ore are subsequently processed through the wet separators to produce the end product of one truckload of 66% high-grade ore. This process is profitable at higher levels of iron ore pricing. But both Mongolian and Indian ore have a base level of 40% to 50% Fe content, and in order to process these for use in steel mills, we employ just the wet separator and thus achieve considerable cost savings in producing the desired product. To illustrate, 1.3 truckloads of this type of ore can be used to produce one truckload of 66% high-grade ore. Overall, this is higher margin production and is profitable even at lower sale prices."
Mr. Mukunda concluded, "We are pleased to have successfully established the logistics and supply chain of importing from Mongolia. We expect to finalize purchase and sale agreements in the very near future. Further, with iron ore prices currently depressed, we are diligently working on finalizing our acquisition strategy that can potentially add significant iron ore assets to our portfolio at a discounted cost in anticipation of a projected global rebound."
About IGC:
Based in Bethesda, Maryland, India Globalization Capital, Inc. (IGC) is a materials and infrastructure company operating in India and China. We currently supply iron ore to steel companies operating in China. For more information about IGC, please visit IGC's Web site at www.indiaglobalcap.com. For information about Ironman, please visit www.hfironman.net.
Forward-looking Statements:
Some of the statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements under the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of the words "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects," "post", "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "intends," "potential," "proposed," "confident" or "continue" or the negative of those terms. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond IGC's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, our competitive environment, infrastructure demands, Iron ore availability and governmental, regulatory, political, economic, legal and social conditions in China and India.
The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Other factors and risks that could cause or contribute to actual results differing materially from such forward-looking statements have been discussed in greater detail in IGC's Schedule 14A, Form 10-K for FYE 2012, Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 9, 2011, July 16, 2012, November 14, 2012, and February 13, 2013 respectively.