is this egm still needed, page-11

Kate this article explains some of it the last 4 paragraphs
On BRR John Lester said they had signed this agreement with Mittal himself. Now why would the parent company(30%)owner of Valin sign off on the agreement
At present PMM and fas are not aligned but the situation seems like FAS and aligned directors are looking after themselves. It is just so uncanny counting the numbers and getting to 51.0% That means that FAS will be the link between having a majority or not just the was they like it

FYI, SMH article below:

Golden West play has a way to run
Date: August 18 2008
Jamie Freed

WHAT a difference a week can make in the world of junior exploration companies. This time last week, colourful iron ore hopeful Golden West Resources lacked a chief executive and any agreement to sell its future output to customers.
Since then, it has agreed to sell 4.5 million tonnes of iron ore a year to China's Hunan Valin Steel Tube & Wire (Valin), which is one-third owned by the world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal.

It has also appointed David Rose, a former chief operating officer of Rio Tinto Iron Ore, as its new chief executive.
These big changes were made before a shareholder meeting in Perth on August 29, in which rival iron ore miner Portman Limited - the owner of 19.9 per cent of Golden West - will seek to sack some of the board and replace it with two of its own representatives.

With the proxy forms already sent out to Golden West's mostly retail shareholder register, The Drum has taken another look at the situation.

Premium

The Valin deal involves not only offtake but a $26.64 million placement at $1.85 a share - a premium to Golden West's closing price of $1.59 on Friday - which would give it an 11.4 per cent stake in the iron ore miner.
The share placement remains subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval, but if that is granted ahead of the August 29 meeting, Valin will be able to exercise its voting rights.

Portman is concerned about the timing of the transaction, particularly as Golden West has not completed a feasibility study on the Wiluna West project.

A Golden West non-executive director, John Lester, said it had enough cash on hand to see its exploration program through to the middle of next year before signing the Valin deal. "As to why we entered it now, the bottom line is without an offtake agreement, we have no leverage at all with the infrastructure companies," he said.

Landlocked

Wiluna West contains extremely high grade iron ore - up to 65 per cent - but it is one of the most landlocked projects in Western Australia.

Golden West eventually plans to ship at least 10 million tonnes a year from the $3.5 billion Oakajee port and railway project to be developed by Murchison Metals and Mitsubishi.

The Drum confirmed Golden West needed to enter offtake agreements before striking ship or pay contracts with the infrastructure provider.

But Golden West is also seeking to export less iron ore - about 1 million tonnes a year - starting late next year since the Oakajee port will not be finished until 2013. Under its previous management, the explorer planned to truck the ore 285 kilometres to a railway at Leonora and ship it from Esperance.

But Lester said Golden West was examining a new plan that would see it truck the ore 400 kilometres to the railway line of Fortescue Metals and ship it from Port Hedland.
On face value, the economics and timing of this plan appear questionable. Atlas Iron recently estimated it would cost $19.50 a tonne to truck iron ore 150 kilometres, suggesting a 400-kilometre haul would erode most of the profit margin, even at today's record iron ore prices.

Also, Golden West has yet to hold discussions with Fortescue about third-party rail and port access and it has not applied for permits to build the project.
Portman's managing director, Richard Mehan, said the proposal to ship out of Port Hedland was clear evidence of the need for iron ore expertise on the Golden West board.

Essential

Portman has also objected to Golden West's planned purchase of the Joyners Find tenements from its founder and major shareholder, John Doutch. Golden West has paid Doutch a $820,000 non-refundable deposit as part of the
$12.5 million deal.

Lester said it was essential for Golden West to own those tenements, which were adjacent to one of its highest-grade deposits, otherwise it would be impossible for the company to build a stable pit wall without leaving up to 4 million tonnes of high-grade ore in the ground.

Portman has questioned whether it was proper to pay a non-refundable deposit. Golden West and another company linked to Doutch, Fairstar Resources, had both previously looked over the tenements and decided not to buy them.

Resolution

Finally, it is possible that after the shareholder meeting, the spat between Portman and Golden West will be resolved in a different way. Portman is 85 per cent owned by US iron ore miner Cleveland-Cliffs.

Through US regulatory filings, The Drum has deduced that Cliffs received an informal takeover offer from ArcelorMittal earlier this year. Cliffs rejected the bid and instead made a play for coalminer Alpha Natural Resources - beating out none other than ArcelorMittal.

Now that Cliffs' major shareholder, hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, is unhappy with the deal, it is possible the world's largest steelmaker could end up as the owner of Cliffs and/or Alpha.

A bid for Cliffs would give ArcelorMittal a major interest in Golden West and a percentage of the offtake through Valin.


What are your thoughts on all this