Here is some of the text from the article that was mentioned previously..
____________________________________
A handful of $1 billion-type companies in the North American mining market have restarted the rationalisation-consolidation activity that was all the rage in the global industry up until a couple of years ago.
At this stage the focus is on Canada, where Wheaton River (it owns the old Peak goldmine of Rio Tinto in NSW) wants to be taken over by IAMgold.
US silver group Coeur d'Alene has tried to spoil the party by making a bid for Wheaton, while another group, Golden Star Resources, has taken legal action to remove a standstill agreement that stops it from bidding for IAMgold.
Forget the in and outs of the duelling: what is going on is a new push to gain a superior market rating by bulking up.
The question is when is it going to spill over into the local market and perhaps more to the point, will the North Americans come a calling here, using their overpriced paper to snap up bargains among our mid-tier mining companies?
They have already made approaches but nothing has come of it yet, the sticking point being relative valuations. If there is action, expect it be among these stocks: Kingsgate Consolidated, Oxiana Resources, Portman, Kagara Zinc, Consolidated Minerals, Jubilee Mines, LionOre and, if Johnny Jones could ever be coaxed into selling, Troy Resources.
The reporter owns Oxiana shares.
OXR
oxiana limited
