Shares in Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) were placed in halt following a hoax release from ANZ that claimed the bank had withdrawn a $1.2 billion loan facility.
Shares had earlier fallen almost 6% or 21c to $3.31 before trade being halted.
The miner said in a release that there was no substance to the hoax media release and that ANZ had confirmed that the release was a hoax.
The media release purportedly from ANZ said it had withdrawn the loan facility intended to develop the Maules Creek Coal project.
The statement, reported a fact by certain media outlets, quoted ANZ's head of corporate sustainability Toby Kent as saying that the banks decision was spurred by customer complaints and its corporate responsibility policy.
The $1.2 billion facility extended on a four year term was to replace Whitehaven's existing debt facility that totalled $800 million, of which $225 million had been drawn.
Proactive Investors Australia is the market leader in producing news, articles and research reports on ASX “Small and Mid-cap” stocks with distribution in Australia, UK, North America and Hong Kong / China.