Atlas Iron has narrowed its first half loss after a sharp rise revenue and continues to develop its second mine.
Net loss for the six months to December 31 was $24.4 million, down from $42.2 million for the previous corresponding period.
Revenue was $41.7 million, a jump from $3.5 million previously, as it increased production at its flagship Pardoo mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
Atlas shipped 1.08 million tonnes of the bulk commodity to steel makers in China between December 2008 when production commenced and December last year.
It said in late January it was on target to ramp-up production at Pardoo to 2.4 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) by mid-2010.
The mid-tier iron ore producer has also started constructing its Wodgina mine, also in the Pilbara, with production slated to commence in April/May.
Mine development costs for the first half were $38.9 million, up from $25.4 million previously.
The company expects to export at a rate of 6Mtpa by December.
Atlas shares went into a trading halt on Monday pending the release of an announcement, and last traded at $2.21.
India's Economic Times on Monday reported that the nation's state-run miner NMDC, Saudi Arabia's ABS Consulting and Australia's Boulder Steel had submitted a $US230 million ($252.8 million) non-binding bid to buy a 70 per cent stake in Atlas' Ridley project or Pardoo mine.
It also said a Chinese firm was understood to be a rival bidder.
However, Aurox Resources Ltd is also in a trading halt, sparking speculation it and Atlas could be poised to announce a port-related deal further to last week's agreement to share capacity at Port Hedland.
Atlas had $148.5 million cash and cash equivalents at the end of December.
AAP
