Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- China Shenhua Energy Co., the world's second-largest coal seller, is seeking global acquisitions to diversify earnings, saying BHP Billiton Ltd.'s proposed offer for Rio Tinto Group will spur further mining industry takeovers.

``The board of our company is working on plans,'' Ling Wen, president of the Beijing-based company said yesterday at a forum. He declined to give details of potential acquisitions outside coal.

BHP has proposed a $150 billion takeover of Rio, in what would be the largest acquisition in history. A five-year advance in metals prices has spurred about $185 billion of bids in the industry in the past year, according to Bloomberg data.

``It's possible that Chinese mining companies will seek to buy a minority stake in the BHP-Rio deal,'' Le Yukun, an analyst at BOC International Ltd., said in an interview in Beijing.

Shenhua shares gained 2.6 percent to 66.20 yuan at 11:26 a.m. local time. The stock has fallen 4.5 percent since Oct. 9.

The company raised 66.6 billion yuan ($9 billion) in an initial public offering in Shanghai last month to fund mine acquisitions and meet demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

``The takeover deal between BHP and Rio will trigger a new round of mining acquisitions, and that will be a challenge to all Chinese mining companies,'' Shenhua's Ling said.

Shenhua is looking to invest in coal mine projects in countries including Australia and Mongolia, Ling said.

Rio, the world's third-largest mining company, may sell its U.S. coal business to focus on metal production and pay down debt after its $38.1 billion acquisition of Alcan Inc., the London- based company said Nov. 8.

To contact the reporter for this story: Xiao Yu in Beijing at yxiao@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 12, 2007 23:19 EST