Australian iron ore miner Atlas Iron Limited (Atlas) has announced that the merger between fellow Australian iron ore company Aurox Resources Limited (Aurox) and Atlas has been implemented.
As a result of implementation of the related scheme of arrangement, the holders of Aurox shares as of 5.00 pm on August 20, 2010 have been issued one new fully paid ordinary Atlas share for every three Aurox shares.
Aurox is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlas. The former Aurox shareholders now hold 12.27 percent of the total shares on issue in Atlas.
Trading of the new Atlas shares on a normal settlement basis is expected to commence on Wednesday, August 25, 2010.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the two miners agreed to merge in March in a deal worth AU$149 million.
As a result of the merger, Atlas will benefit from an additional 10 to 12 million mt per year in long-term Port Hedland port capacity which has been secured by Aurox, making a total of 33 million mt per year. Atlas will also acquire 100 percent ownership of the fully permitted 456 million mt Balla Balla magnetite project.
The merged company will have 187 million mt of direct shipping ore (DSO) resources, exploration targets of 430 to 750 million mt at 57-60 percent Fe, two Pilbara magnetite projects and a 15,000 km2 Pilbara landholding and a DSO production target of 26 million mt per year by 2014.