clarification of capital raising

I had a phone call from Tony Walsh this evening, who was very forthcoming with information.

I'm happy to share the following points:

* capital raising is for $115-$120m
* there will be a share placement plan for shareholders at the same price as that paid by the institutions
* They are planning to have an announcement out early Monday morning but it will require the company working non stop over the weekend, hence Tuesday is a possibility all be it slight
* the delay was mostly about the selection of high quality institutional investors. he said they were oversubscribed and Atlas wanted to ensure they took the best of the best and those with long term faith in Atlas. While he wouldn't say, I got the feeling there has been some delay due to negotiation on the buy price.
* Atlas have been makign presentations to high quality institutions the past 10 days.
* Tony is of the belief that done right the share price will open green Monday. He believes the capital raising has been done right :)
* the capital raising has nothing to do with Ridley.
* funding for Ridley wont be secured until early next year
* Flanagan received 4 unsolicited approaches from steel mills during his recent trip to China
* Atlas are looking at "two offers" very closely
* While Chinese are very interested in Ridley, he said they certainly wont be rushed given the size of the investment they will need to make i.e. $2.7b
* Atlas may appoint an investment bank with a global reputation in July to oversee the 'selling' of Ridley
approximately $90m of the $120m will be used for the following: Pardoo ramp-up ($13-$15m), Wodgina ($10m), additional port facility ($10m), Abydos ($40-$60m), further exploration

I also asked about continuing secrecy over contracts with medium sized Chinese mills. He said steel mills requested anonymity but regardless of that Atlas believes it is best to guard such information closely...he said they wanted to starve their competitors of crucial knowledge relating to its customers.

He is also expecting the 2007 IO price i.e. 33% cut, to be the agreed price for 2009.

Hope this helps all with their investment decisions.