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U.K.-listed, India-focused Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN) Monday became the latest miner to enter the fray over West Africa's vast iron ore deposits by purchasing a majority stake in Western Cluster Ltd., a Liberian iron ore exploration company.

Vedanta, through its majority owned Sesa Goa Ltd. (500295.BY) iron ore unit, has agreed to purchase a 51% stake in Western Cluster Ltd. for $90 million in cash. Sesa Goa is acquiring the stake from Elenilto Minerals & Mining LLC, a unit of Israel-based real-estate developer Engelinvest Group.

WCL won the bid for an iron ore project in Liberia that has long-life potential with iron ore resources in excess of one billion metric tons and saleable product of 330 million tons.

With this purchase, Vedanta, a FTSE-100 company, is joining an iron ore investment bonanza that is taking place in Western Africa. Mining companies and steel producers from around the world are flocking to the region to develop large deposits of the steelmaking raw ingredient in order to export it to fast-growing emerging economies such as China, where demand for the product remains high due to the fast-paced process of urbanization and industrialization.

The purchase marks Vedanta's first iron ore foray out of India. Vedanta is already present in South Africa, Namibia and Zambia through zinc and copper investments but at the moment only produces iron ore in India through its Sesa Goa unit.

ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's largest steel producer and a large iron ore producer, is already present in Liberia with an iron ore project that will ship its first commercial product in the third quarter of this year. Brazil's Vale SA (VALE) and Anglo-Australian mining titan Rio Tinto PLC (RIO), the world's largest and second largest iron ore producers respectively, are also present in neighboring Guinea where they're investing billions of dollars in mining projects and infrastructure to transport high-quality iron ore to the coast for export.

P.K. Mukherjee, managing director, Sesa Goa said: "we are highly delighted with this opportunity to consolidate our iron ore business. The Western Cluster Project presents an excellent opportunity for developing a large integrated mining operation and establish our presence in Liberia and Africa."

Sesa Goa said the project is in close proximity to existing port infrastructure and access to land for a railway corridor, thereby giving the company a strong presence in the upcoming iron ore hub catering to seaborne iron ore trade.

Vedanta' shares were down 5.5% or 78 pence at 1,341 pence a share while the FTSE 350 mining index was down 4.1%.

-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9328; alex.macdonald@dowjones.com (Peter Evans in London contributed to this story.)

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