Noble Group Ltd., a Singapore-headquartered trader of commodities, was considering a bid for Western Desert Resources Ltd. This would be the largest deal for an Australian iron-ore miner since last year's drop of prices for steel ingredient. The information came from sources with knowledge of the said issue.

Noble's move signified that it was taking advantage of the plunging stock values by acquiring resources that could still be developed.

Western Desert Resources' market value was AUD235 million. A contract with the company would strengthen the position of Noble in Northern Territory's iron-ore industry.

The Northern Territory's resources were fewer compared to the adjacent Western Australian states that produced 40% of the globe's iron-ore. However, the territory's rail system and ports did not have many infrastructure bottlenecks which proved to make the production easier.

In a statement made in Thursday, Western Desert Resources said that it held talks with companies but it did not receive a binding bid yet.