China Knowledge reported that Australian mine developer Xanadu Mines plans to raise USD 100 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering early next year to bankroll its coal and copper projects in Mongolia.

Mr Brian Thornton chairman of Xanadu Mines said that it is in talks with four investment banks and will finally hire one or two to manage the listing, adding that Citigroup is most likely to be in the final list. He said that if its listing plan being approved by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and get a waiver of income earnings requirements the IPO may be kicked off in March next year.

Mr Thornton said prior to the offering it plans to launch a private placement within the next four weeks to raise USD 50 million by selling shares to institutional investors,. He said that Xanadu chose to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as it is near one of its potential markets - the mainland China, and investors there were willing to give a much higher valuation for resources stocks.

After years of development, the total investment for its Mongolia based Khar Tarvaga coal mine which has estimated coal reserves of 327 million tonnes will hit around USD 100 million.