[ferro-alloys.com] It reported that Trading house Noble and private equity group TPG have each invested USD 500 million in a private mining venture led by Mr Mick Davis the former head of Xstrata, hoping to cash in on low valuations and a dearth of buyers for mining assets.

Mr Davis set up his new venture as X2 Resources, earlier this year after he was ousted from Xstrata following the miner's acquisition by trading giant Glencore, its largest shareholder.

Under the original takeover deal, Mr Davis had been due to be chief executive of the combined Glencore Xstrata group but a dispute over executive pay and an eventual improvement of Glencore's offer meant the end for the South African boss after a more than a decade at the helm of Xstrata.

After that abrupt exit, Mr Davis known as a dealmaker, moved swiftly, using Xstrata's former offices to set up what he and his investors hope will become a second Xstrata a diversified miner he is credited with building into one of the world's largest, up from USD 500 million collection of zinc and ferrochrome assets.