Australian miner Hancock Prospecting , owned by Elizabeth Reinhart , Australia 's richest woman , has made a bid for junior iron ore miner Atlas Iron , valuing the firm at AUD390 m ( $ 288 m ) . The unconditional cash offer was made through Redstone , a subsidiary of Hancock Prospecting , and followed a recent share purchase that took its stake in Atlas to almost 20 - days after rival firm Fortescue did the same . Hancock 's bid also comes after an offer of AUD280 m from Sterling Resources in April . The Hancock offer represents a 41 per cent premium on the implied value of the MinRes offer and is much more straightforward for Atlas shareholders. Fortescue CEO Elizabeth Gaines said the company would " continue to assess our strategic options " .
Australian miner Hancock Prospecting , owned by Elizabeth Reinhart , Australia 's richest woman , has made a bid for junior iron ore miner Atlas Iron , valuing the firm at AUD390 m ( $ 288 m ) . The unconditional cash offer was made through Redstone , a subsidiary of Hancock Prospecting , and followed a recent share purchase that took its stake in Atlas to almost 20 - days after rival firm Fortescue did the same . Hancock 's bid also comes after an offer of AUD280 m from Sterling Resources in April . Fortescue CEO Elizabeth Gaines said the company would " continue to assess our strategic options " .