Murchison defends silence on $1b blowout

Murchison Metalrate of mini stone crushing machine in kolkatas has defended its decision not to inform shareholders about a $1 billion blowout in the estimated capital cost of its joint venture Oakajee Port and Rail development in Western Australia's mid-west.

The iron ore miner told the Australian Stock Exchange today it did not breach market disclosure rules by waiting until last Wednesday to inform investors of the latest capital cost estimate of $5.239 billion. Murchison shares fell in morning trade, off 3 cents to $1.015. Murchison had known about the estimate since last November, when budget and engineering studies for OPR were completed. But the company says it was not required to disclose the news earlier because the estimate is "premature and entirely speculative", and therefore is "not material" to the price of Murchison securities...