Once major shareholder Santos accepted the revised Metcoal offer for its 36.4% holding in QCT Resources, the future of the Queensland coal miner was sealed.

Last week, Metcoal, the bidding vehicle of BHP and Japan's Mitsubishi group, increased its offer for QCT shares to $1.30, valuing QCT at $895 million. Shareholders would receive $1.20 cash and the fully franked 10c special dividend. The offer was enough to tempt Santos, which will realise about $326 million from its exit from what it has described as a non-core asset. Acceptances of Metcoal's offer rapidly rose from less than 1% to 47.54% when the oil giant's intentions became public.

Earlier, saying this was the final price, BHP managing director and CEO Paul Anderson and Mitsubishi managing director Kenjiro Itadani indicated that the announcement of the special dividend allows shareholders to maximise the benefits of accepting the offer.

QCT directors meanwhile continue to maintain that the revised MetCoal offer undervalues QCT and its future potential, despite recommending acceptance of the offer. If MetCoal receives acceptances under its offer for at least 50.1%, it intends to declare the offer unconditional and to shorten the payment terms.

Longwall mining has meanwhile restarted in the A seam at Kenmare, South Blackwater. QCT says shipments from South Blackwater should now return to normal levels for the remaining three quarters of 2000/01. Total shipments in the first half of 2000/01 are expected to approximate shipments in the second half of 1999/2000.