McAleese went into voluntary suspension on April 13 as Atlas announced it would cease production due to the iron ore price slump.

The company this morning advised that its suspension would last another five business days.

“McAleese Group has held constructive discussions with Atlas and its stakeholders on a range of commercial scenarios with a view to supporting ongoing mining and haulage activities from Atlas’ mines,” McAleese said today.

Atlas’ contractors, led by McAleese, are believed to be trying to formulate a “rescue plan” which will keep the miner’s operations running.

McAleese will be the most heavily impacted by Atlas’ decision to suspend production.

The four-year, 6 million tonne per annum Mt Webber contract was worth $A500 million to McAleese alone.

Atlas’ other Pilbara contractors include MACA, Mineral Resources and Qube Holdings.

The completion of the transition of the Mt Webber, Abydos and Wodgina mines to care and maintenance is expected to be completed by the end of this week.

Atlas is also in suspension and is not expected to resume trading for another two weeks as it completes an operational and financial review.

The company has repeatedly reiterated that it has not breached debt covenants after reports that US bondholders are pushing for the company to enter receivership. 

Debt stands at $327 million and recent ratings downgrades by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s did not impact its $US269.5 million ($A344 million) term loan B due in December 2017.

Atlas had $A169 million cash at the end of December, but Macquarie estimated it was losing $40 million a quarter at iron ore price lows of $US47 per tonne prior to suspending output.

The recovery in iron ore may help Atlas, with the price up around 23% since the start of the month, including 13.5% last week alone.

The current spot price is $57.81/t and Atlas chairman David Flanagan said a price of $60/t would be enough to prompt a restart.