Mumbai: Steel giant ArcelorMittal SA, the former owner of Dofasco Inc, has approached the Ontario Supreme Court to force its partners in Canada's Wabush Mines Inc. to sell their controlling stake in the iron ore joint venture in Labrador and Quebec.

ArcelorMittal has sought the court's direction to its mine partners - US Steel Canada Inc (formerly Stelco) and Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs Inc - to follow through an earlier deal to sell their combined 72 per cent stake in the iron ore mine to ArcelorMittal Dofasco.

The two companies had last week dropped out of negotiations to sell their shares in Wabush Mines to Hamilton-based ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc.

Under the deal arrived at in August last, ArcelorMittal Dofasco had offered to pay $67 million in cash and assume some of the liabilities to buy out the two partners in Wabush Mines.

"Everyone fully understood the terms of this agreement," ArcelorMittal Dofasco president Juergen Schachler said, adding, the two sellers had "binding legal obligations."

"Our decision to pursue legal action is done in an effort to expedite the closure of the sale, and provide some much needed certainty for the employees at Wabush as well as the community and government stakeholders," he said.

Stelco, which was acquired by United States Steel Corp, holds 44.6 per cent in Wabush Mines, while Cleveland-Cliffs owns 26.8 per cent. ArcelorMittal has 28.6 per cent of Wabush.

U.S. Steel, the largest US-based steelmaker by sales, and Cliffs, North America's largest producer of iron-ore pellets, ended talks amid soaring prices for raw materials. Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the world's largest exporter of iron ore, is charging Asian steelmakers about 65 per cent more for the key raw material as global suppliers struggle to match rising demand.
 
The Wabush venture, operating in northern Canada since 1965, produced 4.6 million tonnes of iron-ore pellets last year. The mine is managed by Cliffs. US Steel gained its 45 per cent stake with its $1.1 billion acquisition of Canadian steel producer Steelco Inc. in October.

Cleveland-Cliffs operates six iron ore mines in Michigan, Minnesota and Eastern Canada, and three coking coal mines in West Virginia and Alabama. The company also owns 80 per cent of Portman Ltd., a large iron ore mining company in Australia.

ArcelorMittal is the world's largest steel company, with 310,000 employees in more than 60 countries.