Itochu Corp, Sumitomo Corp
and two Japanese trading firms will jointly bid for rights to Tavantolgoi,
along with a South Korean consortium and a state-owned Russian company, the
Nikkei business daily has said.

Trading houses Marubeni Corp
and Sojitz Corp, together with Russia”s state-owned railway company and a South
Korean consortium led by Korea Resources Corp, have agreed to jointly bid in an
auction to be held by the Mongolian government in mid-January, the daily said. The
partners plan to transport the mined coal by rail to the east Russian coast,
the newspaper added.

Meanwhile, Mitsui & Co
and Chinese partner Shenhua Group Corp are also discussing a joint bid with
U.S. coal giant Peabody Energy, making it the second and only other group, to
participate in the bidding, down from the initial five, the Nikkei said.