TORONTO, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. iron ore and coal miner Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF.N) plans to buy Canadian juniors KWG Resources (KWG.V) and Spider Resources (SPQ.V), as it seeks to expand its chromite asset base in northern Ontario.
Cleveland-based Cliffs currently owns a 47 percent interest in the Big Daddy chromite deposit, in which KWG and Spider each own 26.5 percent stakes. Cliffs said its objective is to obtain majority ownership of the deposit.
Cliffs acquired the stake in December when it sealed a deal to buy Freewest Resources, after a hostile bid from Noront Resources (NOT.V) failed to gather enough shareholder support. Cliffs, at the time, also acquired 100 percent ownership of the nearby Black Thor and Black Label chromite deposits.
Chromite is an essential raw material for the production of chromium, which is used in the production of stainless steel.
The three deposits, and numerous others, are located in the so-called Ring of Fire region -- a promising 5,000-sq-km (1,930-sq-mile) area in northern Ontario that also contains nickel, copper, platinum, gold and other minerals.
The Ontario provincial government has already outlined plans for the development of the Ring of Fire region. It hopes that development in the area will create thousands of jobs and help reduce the the province's deficit.
Cliffs, North America's largest producer of iron ore pellets, said it plans to develop the Black Thor and Black Label deposits, before developing the Big Daddy deposit.
"Obtaining control of Big Daddy would enable Cliffs to develop the most appropriate integrated long-term mine plan for moving this new mining district forward," William Boor, the head of Cliffs' ferroalloys business, said in a statement late on Monday.
PROPOSED OFFER
Cliffs plans to offer KWG shareholders 13 Canadian cents a share, a 62.5 percent premium over the stock's closing price on Friday. Cliffs, which already owns almost 20 percent of KWG's issued and outstanding shares, said its offer values the junior miner at C$100 million ($93 million).
The company intends to offer shareholders of Spider an identical price and premium. Cliffs, which has a 3 percent stake in Spider, said its offer values Spider at C$86 million.
"While we intend to provide each company's shareholders the opportunity to receive a significant cash premium, we only need to acquire either KWG or Spider in order to satisfy our strategic objective," said Boor.
"It would be a satisfactory outcome for Cliffs if either proposed acquisition were successful, leaving Cliffs as majority owner and operator of Big Daddy, with one junior partner," he added.
Cliffs said neither of the proposed takeovers -- to be funded through existing cash resources -- is contingent on the completion of the other.
A formal offer has not yet been made to shareholders of KWG or Spider.
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