In- demand Atlas Iron put in halt

ATLAS Iron shares have been put in a trading halt just days after billionaire mining mogul Gina Rinehart ( pictured) bought a significant stake in the group.

Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, which operates the Roy Hill iron ore mine in the Pilbara, now controls a 19.96 per cent stake in Atlas Iron.

Shares in Atlas rallied 0.3c, or 7.1 per cent, to 4.4c yesterday after the company confirmed Hancock had taken the stake, before the stock was put in a trading halt at 10.40am.

Announcing the trading halt, Atlas said an announcement was pending in relation to correspondence from the Western Australian Government about infrastructure.

Trading had been heavy in recent days: more than 850 million Atlas shares changed hands on Tuesday – about 9 per cent of the shares on issue.

Almost 1.2 billion shares were traded last Friday, and more than 2.3 billion shares were traded the previous day, when Fortescue Metals bought a 15 per cent stake.

Atlas is the subject of a $ 280 million takeover bid from Mineral Resources.

The Atlas board has supported the offer, which the suitor has said will enable both companies to maximise the value of their low- grade iron ore deposits in a tough export market. A vote on the deal is expected next month.

Fortescue’s $ 56 million investment in Atlas last week took its interest in the company to 19.9 per cent, with the group saying it would not support the Mineral Resources proposal.