swan blocks chinese takeover of oz mine, page-61

This decision is typical Swan - making a laughing stock of us all. This is a good article from Metal Bulletin:

OZ Minerals – death by firing squad

Metal Bulletin, Singapore 27 March 2009

Australia has said China Minmetals can’t buy OZ Minerals because it is worried that Chinese spies will sit atop Prominent Hill, pointing their telescopes at the Australian army’s most advanced weaponry.

That’s not exactly what Treasurer Wayne Swan said on Friday, but that’s what it boils down to.

In the latest twist in the sad saga of OZ Minerals’s demise, Swan said Prominent Hill cannot be sold to the Chinese government because it is apparently located in the middle of a defence department firing range.

This dire threat to Australian national security means any deal with the Chinese cannot include that mine, which is, cruelly, OZ Minerals’ most desirable asset (despite the danger of stray bullets).