are hanlong going to announce partner, page-47

The only I/O asset for sale other than SDL is Rio maybe selling its stake in "The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC)"
and they want around 1.8B for it. Total value of IOC valued between 3-4B for a company producing high cost ore of 17mt at average iron content of 39%. Still makes SDL look cheap. Low cost ore, double the production and high grade iron. IOC should be on Care and Maintenance. Even the Chinese are not mentioned as potential buyers because its not a bargain.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=857569


Rio Tinto Reportedly Mulls Canada Operations Sale
Mar 1 2013
Rio Tinto Ltd. has put up Iron Ore Company of Canada Inc. (IOC) for sale which is expected to fetch more than$1.7 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Rio Tinto has reportedly hired Credit Suisse and the investment banking arm of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to sell all or part of its 58.7% stake in IOC, some of these people said. Rio Tinto’s Chief Financial Officer, Guy Elliott said that they were looking at divesting more assets than its diamonds unit and Pacific Aluminium division already up for sale. Elliott didn't specify what assets were being considered for sale. Dow Jones Global Equities News reported that Bruce Tobin, a spokesman for Rio Tinto, declined to comment on whether the company is looking to sell its stake in the Canadian iron ore operations. Also, one industry source said, "The historic performance has been inconsistent, and if Rio wants more bang for its buck, the Pilbara is lower cost than Canada, which is also lower grade." He added that a deal could value IOC at $3 billion to $4 billion, putting the value of Rio's majority stake at above $1.8 billion. Glencore and Teck Resources could be the potential buyers.


http://www.ironore.ca/main.php?mid=3&sid=m&lng=1

About IOC
The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) is Canada's largest iron ore producer and a leading global supplier of iron ore pellets and concentrates. IOC is a key employer in the communities in which it operates, employing almost 1900 people in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. Owned by Rio Tinto (58.7%), Mitsubishi Corporation (26.2%), and the Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Corporation (15.1%), IOC operates within the Rio Tinto Iron Ore group and maintains its head office in Montreal, Quebec.

IOC celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2005. In 1954, IOC began extracting iron ore at its mine site in Schefferville, Quebec. Operations at this site continued until 1982, when the site was closed. IOC's current mine and process facilities, located near Labrador City, a community of approximately 9,000 in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, is known as the Carol Project. The facility began operation in 1962 and has produced more than one billion tonnes of crude ore with an average iron content of 39 percent.

The site still has a significant resource base available.

Annual capacity at the Carol Concentrator is 17 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate, of which 13 million tonnes can be pelletized and the balance processed into various grades of concentrate products.

After processing at the Labrador City operations, the pellets and concentrate are transported south 418 kilometers on the IOC owned and operated Quebec North Shore & Labrador (QNS&L) railway to the company's shipping terminal and year-round deep water port in Sept-Îles, Quebec. The trains can haul up to 24,000 tonnes of ore in 265 cars stretching some four kilometers in length.