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Swiss mining giant Xstrata has been given just three weeks to "put up or shut up" on its proposal to merge with rival Anglo American by the City Takeover Panel.
Anglo asked the Takeover Panel on Tuesday to force Xstrata to make a formal offer on its merger bid or walk away for six months.
Today the panel imposed a deadline of 5pm on 20 October for Xstrata to be clear about its intentions.
It has three options - formalise its original proposal, sweeten the offer or walk away.
The indicative offer is for an all-share merger that would create a mining group with a combined market capitalisation of £43 billion.
Anglo rejected this offer, calling the terms "totally unacceptable".
Today it said nothing has happened since to change its mind and repeated its "emphatic rejection" of the bid.
Xstrata proposed a merger three months ago on the basis that the two companies are of roughly equal value on the stock market and hold similar levels of debt.
Sir John Parker, chairman of Anglo American, said: "We have reaffirmed our conclusion that Xstrata's proposal is not in the interests of our shareholders."
