Australian Coal Assets Overpriced Says AMCI’s Hans Mende

SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- Australian mines are overpriced at present although there are still assets worth looking at, resources investor Hans Mende said Friday.

Mende, president and founder of Greenwich, Ct.-based resources private equity house AMCI, said that there were few good options in the country, the world’s largest exporter of coal and iron ore.

“We are always looking (for assets) but it is difficult. Australian assets are overpriced,” he said.

Mende and AMCI are regarded as some of the canniest overseas investors in the Australian commodities sector. The company held a stake in Felix Resources Ltd., bought out by Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd. (YZC) in 2009, as well as shares in several mining tenements in Queensland sold out to Vale S.A. (VALE) in 2007.

He said that he was not interested in investing in New Hope Corp. Ltd. (NHC.AU), which announced recently it was holding a sale process for potential bidders, or buying Aquila Resources Ltd.’s (AQA.AU) stakes in a series of Queensland coal mines which were previously held jointly with AMCI before the Vale sale.

AMCI is a 50% partner with Aquila in its West Pilbara Iron Ore Project. The Australian company plans to sell assets to fund its share of the project’s development costs.

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