On top of board disunity and the forced search for a new chief executive, embattled Mount Gibson Iron revealed yesterday it was yet to resolve $18.4 million worth of legal disputes with disgruntled contractors.

Three of the four disputes with contractors, relating variously to design and construction of a crusher at the Extension Hill mine as well as road works, have been under way for at least six months.

The biggest of the disputes, the $6.9 million argument over the Extension Hill crusher, was subject to a Supreme Court hearing late last year, with Mount Gibson stating that it expected a judgment before the end of this month.

The fourth and newest dispute, over $1.1 million, was initiated by a contractor in the past half year as a result of a dispute to a mining contract at Mount Gibson's Koolan Island operation.

Mount Gibson discussed details of the legal battles in its half-year results announcement yesterday.

The $121.2 million net profit for the six months to December 31 was down 13.4 per cent on the previous corresponding period principally because of a below-budget performance at the Tallering Peak mine. Revenue fell 1.1 per cent to $388.1 million but gross profit was off almost 5 per cent to $193.2 million.

A lack of labour at Tallering Peak was the main cause of the lower iron ore production while output at Koolan Island was also lower as Mount Gibson took over the operation from the previous contractor.

Mount Gibson's newest mine, Extension Hill, is expected to benefit from an upgrade to rail unloading facilities at Geraldton Port. Mining at Extension Hill began last March.

There was no mention in the half-yearly report of the progress Mount Gibson had made in the search for a new chief executive.

Luke Tonkin quit managing director just before Christmas following a series of disagreements with the miner's board, which is controlled by representatives of its two biggest Chinese shareholders-cum-iron ore customers.

Chief operating officer Jim Beyer has been acting in the chief executive's role since Mr Tonkin's departure.

Mount Gibson declared a 2¢ fully-franked dividend per share, for a $21.6 million return to investors, to be paid on April 20. Mount Gibson shares closed up 0.5¢ to $1.40.