MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 26, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it had assigned a rating of 'B+' to the proposed US144a issuance of about US$1.5 billion senior unsecured notes by FMG Resources (August 2006) Pty Ltd., the funding arm of Australian iron ore mining company, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (B+/Stable/--). The notes will have a term of eight years, and proceeds will be used for the continued expansion of Fortescue's Western Australian mining operations to 155 million tons per annum (T155 project, mtpa). Fortescue's expansion to 55 mtpa was completed in June 2011 as planned, and the company is continuing to work toward its 155 mtpa target. We believe that the T155 project is on track
