Baosteel, Aurizon bid $1.3b on mine

Joint offer intends to take strategic advantage of falling iron ore prices

China's Baosteel Group Corp took a further step to secure raw material by bidding for iron ore miner Aquila Resources Ltd jointly with Australian freight operator Aurizon Holdings Ltd in a deal valued at A $1.4 billion ($1.3 billion).

According to a statement released Monday by the Chinese steelmaker, Baosteel and Aurizon intend to make a joint offer of A $3.40 a share, or an unsolicited A $1.4 billion offer in total, to take over what shares of Aquila they don't currently own.