Noble Group, TPG invest US$1 bil in new mining venture

Trading house Noble Group and private equity group TPG Capital have each invested US$500 million in a new mining venture led by former executives of miner Xstrata, including former boss Mick Davis.

Davis had long indicated he would not be leaving mining, after building Xstrata from a US$500 million collection of zinc and ferrochrome assets into the world's fourth-largest diversified miner, before it was taken over by major shareholder Glencore in a deal earlier completed this year.

In a statement on Monday, the companies said X2 Resources planned to create a "mid-tier diversified miner and metals group", whose output would eventually be marketed by Noble.