Steely Investing

ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), the massive Luxembourg-based steelmaker, is buying London Mining South America Limited (London Mining Brazil) from London Mining Plc., for a total of $810 million, including assumed debt.

London Mining Brazil's claims contain an estimated 1.059 billion tons of iron ore reserves. Annual production from the facilities has been running at about 1.4 million tons, and Arcelor is reportedly considering investing about $700 million to push the output to about 10 million tons annually.

Arcelor has also reached an agreement with Canada's Adriana Resources to devel- op an iron ore port facility in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In the past several years, China has played a major role in increasing global demand for iron ore, a key ingredient in the manufacture of steel. Soaring iron ore prices have been a boon for giant steel companies, triggering a wave of industry consolidation.

For its part, ArcelorMittal is the product of a 2006 merger of two major steel manufacturers, and it's now the world's largest steel company. Indeed, its 320,000 employees — more than six times those of U.S. Steel — operate in more than 60 countries. Fools interested in the global mining and natural resources sector should enjoy the company's combination of a 2 percent dividend yield and an active share buyback program.