2012, page-4

Dow Jones newswires 10:36am today

Hebei Iron & Steel Group, China's largest steel maker by
output, is in talks with Atlas Iron Ltd. over a stake in the Ridley magnetite project in Western Australia, the state-run China Daily reported Tuesday, citing unnamed
sources.
Hebei Iron, which doesn't have any overseas mining resources, is looking at the Ridley project to bolster its iron ore supplies, the newspaper cited the source as
saying. The project is expected to yield 15 million tons of ore annually over the next 35 years, the paper said.
The paper didn't give details on the size of the stake.
Atlas, which is merging with Aurox Resources Ltd. another Australian ore miner, has been seeking a development partner for the Ridley project.
Chinese steelmakers have been seeking to purchase iron ore resources to secure raw material supplies and reduce their dependency on the three big miners, Vale SA, Rio Tinto PLC and BHP Billiton Ltd.