Ann: Stellar High-Grade Drillling Update, page-39

Yeah I'm not convinced that Ramelius has a profile that would attract a larger predator. Evolution sold Edna May presumably because it  was a nickels and dimes operation that did not have the current size of operation or the future prospects to warrant the attention of Evolution's management team: sure if they had the time they could have kept EM ticking over but they had much larger fish to fry so EM became surplus to requirements. And does anyone think that Evolution's management would want to be kicking rocks at Mt Magnet, picking up relatively small deposits from multiple pits. Again, is Tampia the sort of deposit that say a big bopper like Evolution would want to take on? My guess is probably not.

Ramelius has found itself a niche in operating mines that other firms are too small or too big to deal with. It hasn't done that much for the share price to date but it has allowed Ramelius to secure a very strong free cash flow. At the moment it has taken on a truck-load of new projects which the small team at Ramelius will take  a while to get on top of, and whilst they do that they should be refilling their cash reserves. I hope that they stick to their knitting for the time being: doing the stuff that neither smaller nor larger firms are suited to. But then if a major opportunity comes along they will have the cash on hand and the cash flow to justify the move.

And really for those who want to see Ramelius as a dividend play rather than an expansion play: why not just buy EVO or BHP?