BRITISH mining company Lonmin PLC kept up its public defense against a hostile 5-billion-pound (US$8.9 billion) takeover approach from Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata PLC yesterday, publishing a document for shareholders that underlines the standalone value of the company.

    Lonmin again urged investors to reject the 3,300 pence per share (US$58.77) all-cash preliminary offer from Xstrata, saying the approach "fundamentally undervalues the company's unique assets, resources and reserves.""It is not in the interests of Lonmin's shareholders, and the board will continue to oppose it vigorously," it said.

    The statement marks the fourth time that Lonmin, the world's No. 3 platinum producer, has publicly urged shareholders to reject the Xstrata offer since the Anglo-Swiss firm made its approach public on August 6.

    Analysts have said Lonmin will struggle to fend off the approach from Xstrata, which wants to develop a significant platinum business, unless another bidder comes to the rescue of the company.

    A major difficulty for Lonmin is that the offer exploits its weak points, coming after a year of operational difficulties at the London-based company's South African mines that hampered its ability to exploit the earlier high platinum price.

    Platinum is used in jewelry and for catalytic converters in automobiles. Expectations of growing demand in China for the precious metal led prices to surge from about US$1,225 an ounce a year ago to US$2,250 an ounce in February. Prices have since fallen under US$1,600 again.

    However, Lonmin Chairman John Craven said yesterday that based on "reasonable assumptions" for rating, production and platinum pricing, "it is not difficult to see a share price for Lonmin well above Xstrata's 33-pounds-a-share proposal."The stock was trading above that level yesterday, up 0.2 percent at 3,438 pence (US$61.23) per share.

    The document pointed out that Lonmin achieved platinum sales of over 900,000 ounces in each of the four financial years 2003 to 2006 before its operational challenges in 2007 and safety-related stoppages in 2008.

    "FY2008 represents a low point in production for Lonmin and has also been challenging for other ... producers," it said.