Mittal Steel Co. NV has entered into a Mining Development Agreement with the Government of Liberia. Once it has been ratified, the agreement will give Mittal Steel access to about 1 billion tonnes of rich iron ore reserves in Western Liberia.

Mittal Steel anticipates total spending of approximately US$900 million over the lifetime of the project. This will cover development of the mines, related railway and port infrastructure, and provisions for community development.

Commenting, Mittal Steel President and CFO, Mr. Aditya Mittal said: “Today’s announcement further demonstrates our intention to become a truly integrated steel producer. We are already one of the world’s most integrated steel producers and this will help to further reduce our dependency on third party iron ore supplies.”

Commenting on behalf of the Liberian Government, Minister Jonathan Mason said: “We have been looking forward to this moment for a long time. Liberia has a long tradition in iron ore mining and used to export more than 15 million metric tonnes of ore annually. Unfortunately, due to the war, the mines were abandoned and most of the infrastructure destroyed. With Mittal Steel, we are confident that we have found a committed and financially strong partner with the necessary technical and social competence to rehabilitate this industry and to provide essential employment in Liberia.”

Mittal Steel Co. is the world’s largest and most global steel company. The company has operations in fourteen countries, on four continents. Mittal Steel encompasses all aspects of modern steelmaking, to produce a comprehensive portfolio of both flat and long steel products to meet a wide range of customer needs. It serves all the major steel consuming sectors, including automotive, appliance, machinery and construction. For 2004, Mittal Steel had revenues of US$22.2 billion and steel shipments of 42.1 million tonnes.