
Transport contractor McAleese said it has had a number of constructive discussions with Atlas Iron which could lead to supporting ongoing mining and haulage activities from Atlas’ mines.
Atlas decided to close its Pilbara mines earlier this month in light of the falling iron ore price.
In a statement to the ASX yesterday, McAleese requested an extension to the halt for five more business days.
It said discussions with Atlas and its stakeholders on a range of commercial scenarios with a view to supporting mining and haulage actives were ongoing.
The iron ore price has seen an impressive recovery since Atlas decided to shut up shop, rising 23 per cent to last trade at $US57.80 a tonne.
The Australian reports Atlas contractors McAleese, Maca and Qube Logistics have offered to forgo some of their payments in order to keep the iron ore miner afloat.
This would mean the contractors would share in some of Atlas’ profit if the iron ore price recovered to a point where mining was viable for the company.