rio now at 20% holding ???, page-3

Interesting article, thanks for posting it. However, I can't see what the author is trying to imply. Is he suggesting Rio are somehow trying to aquire EXT? How? by ramping up their OWN mine? I don't think anyone is surprised that Rio are behind the SP activity of late, or that they have increased their stake, but it makes no sense to assume the two are connected. Why improve something you already have in order to acquire something you really want? There is no leverage here. It would seem logical however to assume that on the basis of arithmetic alone, the more you own of something the less you ultimately have to pay to get the rest! On this score however, surely we must be getting close to critical mass, i.e. not enough shares available to Rio to acquire at a favourable price (to swing the balance), before the blast-off effect of final RS size is made known. Rio's boardroom calendar must be covered in ink!

I think its fair to assume that within the next few months as drill/assay/resource definitions become fact, that Rio will be forced to show its hand, or risk paying a huge retail price penalty for EXT.