Demand firm, despite Atlas Iron's $256 million loss ATLAS Iron has continued the trend of iron ore miners reporting a slump in first-half profit on the back of the hit to the iron ore price late last year, but the miner says its phone has been "running hot" with increased interest from Asian customers. The Perth-based iron ore miner's shares fell yesterday after reporting a net loss of $256 million, compared with a $6.1m profit during the same period a year earlier. Shares in the company closed 3.44 per cent lower at $1.54.