Chinese interest in Australia’s iron ore sector has gone to a new level, with East Perth-registered exploration company Legacy Iron Ore Ltd seeking to list on the stock market.
The directors of Legacy, whose float comes at a time of growing Chinese investment in Australian iron ore companies, have strong Chinese connections.
Chief executive Sharon Heng said she had developed a network of Chinese contacts from her experience in that country’s oil and gas, energy, infrastructure, and mining industries, but declined to provide any details beyond the broad information in the company’s prospectus.
“We’re closely affiliated with all steel mills in China and they’ve already expressed interest in Legacy Iron Ore,” Ms Heng said.
The company’s main focus is on its iron tenements located in the Pilbara and Kimberley – all of them are still under application, with none yet granted.
But that has not deterred Ms Heng in thinking ahead.
“Offtake agreements and joint venture partners are all being lined up; it’s in the pipeline but nothing’s been confirmed,” she said.
Legacy’s three-person board includes non-executive director Hunt Han, who was formerly the vice-general manager of China’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Corporation and was also a diplomat for China’s Export Base Development Corporation.
The third director is Timothy Turner, a partner with Victoria Park accounting firm Hewitt Turner and Gelevitis.
Mr Turner is a non-executive director and company secretary of Cape Lambert Iron Ore Ltd, which is in the process of selling its namesake iron ore project for $400 million to China Metallurgical Group Corp.
He is also a director Global Iron Ore Ltd and International Goldfields Ltd.
Legacy Iron Ore’s initial public offering aims to raise up to $8 million through the issue of 32 million shares at 25 cents.
The directors, along with vendors, seed holders and promoters already hold 70 million shares, which Ms Heng said would not be diluted.
“There are not a lot of shares on issue that shareholders can buy; it just makes the company a lot safer from takeover situations,” Ms Heng told WA Business News.
The public offer is open now and is due to close at the end of this month with plans to list on June 17.
