Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Corp. said Monday it will jointly invest in or acquire several mining projects with ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's largest steelmaker in terms of output.

ArcelorMittal's mining division will make a list of mining projects the two sides could jointly exploit, invest in or acquire as soon as possible, Wuhan Iron said in a statement posted on its website, adding the cooperative effort comes after Peter Kukielski, head of ArcelorMittal's mining group, visited Wuhan Iron on August 12.

A spokeswoman for ArcelorMittal confirmed that Kukielski had visited Wuhan Iron, but couldn't comment further.

Wuhan Iron's statement didn't identify which mining projects might be involved, but it said they will mainly be iron ore mines.

The move comes as major steelmakers have been stepping up efforts to secure iron ore supplies as prices of the raw material are now around twice as high as they were a year earlier.

ArcelorMittal, which has secured an annual supply of 51 million metric tons of iron ore by acquiring mines in Canada, the U.S., Brazil and Ukraine, plans to expand its iron ore production capacity to 100 million tons by 2015, the statement said.

Wuhan Iron, which relies on imports for 85% of its iron ore needs, has been actively expanding overseas in recent years and has already announced several deals to purchase stakes in iron ore miners, including Brazil's MMX Mineracao e Metalicos SA and Australia's Centrex Metals Ltd., as part of its strategy of diversifying its raw material supply.

-Yajun Zhang contributed to this article; Dow Jones Newswires; (86 10) 8400-7712; yajun.zhang@dowjones.com
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