Ann: Trading Halt , page-37

A lower risk company now apparently.

"Apparently" is the right word.

Previously we had a company with a known, fixed debt schedule and to cover it, a copper hedge.

Now we have no debt, but no real copper hedge in an increasingly volatile copper market where the only real price risk to copper is to the downside.

So now we have no protection against that downside.

This has INCREASED the risk, not decreased it.

There's a reason they were able to close their copper and gold hedges for in excess of $15M - those holding the hedge position are desperate to close it out because they know it will cost them more in the long run as copper falls.

Our net margins in Finland are already paper thin, so any fall in copper will result in materially lower revenue from the mine and possibly even turn the operation cashflow negative.

Only time will tell whether this was the right decision - if copper stays strong for the next few years then it will turn out to have been a brilliant coup on AC's part, because AOH will be getting the hedged price anyway, plus the $10M bonus.

But I think to say it's decreased the risk is wrong, it's actually a fairly risky move. As evidenced by the fact the hedgers were willing to pay so much to close out the position.