Australia's Atlas Iron and Mt Gibson Iron on Friday were forced to lay off workers and introduce austerity measures in an attempt to ride out a sharp slide in iron ore prices. Mt Gibson, whose Koolan Island mine was closed last week because of a flooding incident, said it did not know when it might reopen.
Both companies, along with Fortescue Metals , were started in the last decade's boom-era rush to dig new mines, but are now cracking under the weight of low ore prices. Once-hefty margins that made millions for early investors are disappearing, replaced by short sellers betting things will only get worse...............................................Full Article: Source
|