some clarity.. By Alex Wilson Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES MELBOURNE...

some clarity..



By Alex Wilson
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Mount Gibson Iron Ore Ltd. (MGX.AU) Managing Director Luke
Tonkin said Thursday the company has had informal approaches from third parties but is
pressing on with a previously announced deal with China's Shougang Corp.
"There has been a lot of inquiry, nothing is complete nor binding," he told
Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.
Mount Gibson came under pressure when several of its iron ore customers defaulted on
long-term contracts, and the miner last week announced a bail out package that would see
major shareholder APAC Resources Ltd. (1104.HK) and Shougang take up the extra tons of
product and underwrite the raising of A$162.5 million through a rights issue and share
placement.
Tonkin said the company could be subject to opportunistic approaches from so called
"white knights" over the next six to eight weeks, but that it is focused on the
transaction with APAC and Shougang, which he said was compelling.
Proceeding with the transaction would give some certainty to the company's
lenders, Tonkin said, and encourage them to roll over foreign exchange contracts that are
badly out of the money.
"I think that given the current plan that is on the table there is a better
propensity for us to be able to meet it in either regard - be it via a cash close out of
(the currency hedging) or moving it out into the future," he said.
Mount Gibson had said it hoped to conclude discussions with one of its customers by
Nov. 9, but Tonkin said these discussions were ongoing and the situation was not
critical.

-By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9671-4313; [email protected]