"" The fact that the copper price has soared since February is...

"" The fact that the copper price has soared since February is now largely irrelevant.. "



To a punter looking at share prices for guidance, maybe.

However the value of IRN ultimately lies in its asset base, and given that the price of copper has soared since the last overtures from a suitor were made(which by the way, reflected the asset value back then), it is reasonable to assume a bidding war will break out when San Miguel make their pitch.

The above stance is not mine, it is readily found, and it comes from Philippine analysts close to the action, who incidentally, made their calls months ago when MS joined the fray.

The missing link right now is permission to mine. Nothing more

Recently MS hedged their bets on this for another month, whereby they still have first call. Therefore they wait in anticipation of one of the biggest projects in Philippine history. During this time, will they be pro-active behind the scenes with permissioning. You bet they will. !

Clearly the price of copper shows that demand is way up, and the Philippines Govt badly needs the income stream, so my beat guess is a way will be found to mine these vast deposits.

As for leaving them in the ground, really that's not an option



The Manila Standard printed this a few days ago:

Sagittarius Mines Inc., a joint venture between Switzerlands Xstrata Plc and Australia's Indophil Resources NL, has expressed optimism on the lifting of the ban on open-pit mining in South Cotabato province.

SMI appreciated the significant show of support by host tribal communities and local government units for the Tampakan project at todays special hearing, Sagittarius general manager Mark Williams said in a statement.