Coal India Ltd and Aditya Birla Group company Essel Mining will explore possibilities of joint ventures with Australian coal mining companies and promote domestic mining equipments Down Under.

A delegation of senior officials from Coal India Ltd and their subsidiaries, other mineral mining companies, consultants and trading organisations would be visiting Australia to explore the opportunities from July 20-28, industry body CII said in a statement.

"The delegation would specifically focus on the opportunities in the coal mining sector where we expect to see possibilities of joint ventures with the Australian companies," the statement said.

The 19-member delegation from CIL, M N Dastur and Company, and Essel Mining and Industries Ltd, would make presentations at the Mining-2020 International Conference at Mackey in Australia.

The objectives of the visit include exploring business opportunities for Indian companies in the mining sector of Australia, promote the Indian industry and identification of new technologies and areas of cooperation, the chamber said.

The delegation would have a series of meetings with the Australian government and mining association, prospective partners and select mines officials in Mackay, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, CII said.

"With the new mining policy on the cards the CII mining delegation will visit Australia from July 20. The visit coincides with the Queensland International Mining Exhibition (QME 2008) at Mackey", the chamber said.

The visit of the delegation has been organised in cooperation with the Australian Trade Commission, CII said.