LONDON (ShareCast) - In an announcement made after the close of trade on Thursday, Vedanta Resources announced that Executive Chairman Anil Agarwal had once again added to his already gargantuan stake in the mining behemoth - marking his second purchase of the week.

The transaction came the same day he told his Twitter followers that "investment must be made in exploration and development of natural resources to eradicate poverty & unemployment".

Altogether the Indian billionaire this week added a further 464,289 shares to his previous holding of 179.32m shares.

239,289 of the shares were acquired for 898p, while another 225,000 were priced at 973p, giving a total spend of just under £4.26m.

Agarwal, who now owns a whopping 67.42% stake in the FTSE 100-listed group, on Thursday argued on social network Twitter that "legitimate" mining shouldn't be curbed. The company last year faced heavy criticism over its plans to drill a bauxite mine on the sacred hills worshipped by a number of Indian tribes.

Last week the country's authorities rejected Vedanta's proposal after 12 representative villages last year voted against it.


Top Director Buys

ITE Group (ITE)
Director name: Mr Edward Strachan
Amount purchased: 164,000 @ 313.00p
Value: £513,320

General Electric Co (GEC)
Director name: Mr W. Geoffrey Beattie
Amount purchased: 2,000 @ € 19.34
Value: € 38,683

Midas Income & Growth Trust (MIGT)
Director name: Mr Richard A M Ramsay
Amount purchased: 36,500 @ 135.25p
Value: £49,366

FirstGroup (FGP)
Director name: Mr John McFarlane
Amount purchased: 10,642 @ 136.00p
Value: £14,473

APC Technology Group (APC)
Director name: Mr Leonard Seelig
Amount purchased: 20,626 @ 55.00p
Value: £11,344


Top Director Sells

Judges Scientific (JDG)
Director name: Mr Ralph Cohen
Amount sold: 30,000 @ 2,000.00p
Value: £600,000

Eckoh (ECK)
Director name: Mr Nicolas B Philpot
Amount sold: 477,643 @ 32.27p
Value: £154,135

SpaceandPeople (SAL)
Director name: Mr Maurice Helfgott
Amount sold: 85,000 @ 132.50p
Value: £112,625

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