(Repeat story published on Sunday, no change to text)
By Peter Gosnell
April 10 (Reuters) - Prospects for the restructuring of debt-laden Australian iron ore and steel group Arrium ARI.AX look a little less gloomy after several measures adopted to boost efficiency at an ageing steelworks, an administrator said on Sunday.
With debts exceeding A$2.8 billion ($2.1 billion), Arrium's decision to enter voluntary administration, raising the possibility of a liquidation, shows how creditors are souring on indebted resources companies in the current tough climate.
Arrium went into administration on Thursday, after creditors, including Australia's big four banks, in February rejected a $927-million bail-out proposal by private equity group GSO Capital Partners that would have required them to accept no more than 55 cents in the dollar on their claims.
"Arrium was trying for a long time prior to our appointment to make significant changes to the way it operated," administrator Paul Billingham told Reuters by telephone.
"Its board and the senior operational management team were extremely focused on this and the information we've gleaned suggested they'd made significant advances."
Attempts by Reuters to contact the board and senior managers for comment were not successful.
Billingham said all stakeholders would need to be brought on board if the company's steel works, in the South Australian town of Whyalla, was to survive the short term.
"If there is going to be a solution here for both Arrium and Whyalla, it can only be achieved with all the key stakeholders working together," Billingham said.
Arrium employs 6,300 workers across Australia and more than 1,000 contractors. Besides the Whyalla steelworks, with an annual capacity of up to 2.5 million tonnes of steel, its mines export up to 12.5 million tonnes of iron ore each year.
Its port facilities at Whyalla can handle iron ore exports of up to 13 million tonnes a year.
Administrators will visit the Whyalla steelworks on Monday with a group comprised of unions, representatives of the Steel Task Force of the state government and its adviser, PPB.
Creditors are due to meet on April 19, but Billingham said a second meeting, required by law within five weeks of the first, was almost certain to be delayed.
"We do anticipate going to the court and seeking an extension," he said. "It's very unlikely that we'll be able to comply with the standard time-table, given the complexity of the business."
Arrium illustrates the struggles of smaller-sized Australian resources companies that used debt to buy second-tier iron ore mines to feed Chinese industrial expansion.
But they found themselves far out-produced by sector giants such as Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT). Most of these smaller firms were left in the red as Chinese industrial growth slowed and iron ore and steel prices contracted. ($1=1.3235 Australian dollars)