MIN $10 Share Price, page-97

Unfortunately it's a genuine risk. I personally don't think it would get that far but it's getting to the point at which others (debt holders and customers) get to have a say and the situation is not entirely in MIN's control.

The Chinese government is quite comfortable doing what they can to manipulate pricing; from entering into large deals to bring additional long term supply online to jawboning the price of commodities lower (while simultaneously building up stockpiles).

The game for suppliers is not to flood the market with future supply and/or expose themselves too much with debt. BHP and RIO (and Vale to a lesser extent) had sufficient scale and strategic advantage to play the game on their own terms for a period but China's consolidation of buying operations for Iron Ore, FMG, future Simandou supply and now MIN Onslow are tilting the advantage back to China.

Last time RIO got caught out with high leverage China managed to secure a chunk of the company for themselves. If commodities were truly entirely market driven entities like OPEC wouldn't exist.

MIN between a rock and a hard place at present imho.