China's Minmetals eyes Australian iron ore, coal - paper

SYDNEY, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Chinese mining giant Minmetals is on the hunt for iron ore and coal assets in Australia to add to its current holdings of copper, lead and zinc, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday.

Minmetals President Zhou Zhongshu told the newspaper that he had asked Australian subsidiary Minerals and Metals Group's (MMG) Chief Executive Andrew Michelmore to seek out assets.

'I have already told Andrew that the priority now is non-ferrous metals but I have also asked Andrew to keep an eye on iron ore and coal,' Zhou was quoted as saying.

MMG was formed in 2009 by Minmetals to acquire the majority of the zinc and copper mining assets of Oz Minerals and act as vehicle for acquisitions and organic growth in the sector.

Zhou told the newspaper that he wanted to float parts of both the Chinese company and its Australian subsidiary but was still considering when and on which stock exchanges.

(Reporting by Morag MacKinnon; Editing by Balazs Koranyi)

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