TYC tethyan copper company limited

article in the west, page-2

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    re:article in the fin rev Hi All,

    Article from the Fin Rev.

    Cheers,
    Brantley

    Put up or shut up, Tethyan tells Crosby

    Author: Yvonne Ball
    Date: 12/01/2006
    The Financial Review
    Section: Companies and Markets
    Page: 13

    Tethyan Copper managing director David Moore says Hong Kong merchant bank Crosby Capital Partners should raise its hostile takeover offer or go away after a doubling of the resource at its Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan.

    The upgrade comes almost three weeks after Tethyan joined forces with major South American copper producer Antofagasta to create a 50-50 joint venture to develop the $US1 billion ($1.3 billion) project and extinguish clawback rights held by BHP Billiton.

    Crosby Capital Partners launched a surprise 64 ? a share takeover bid in May last year but has secured a mere 1.3 per cent stake in Tethyan.

    However, it seems to have no intention of letting the bid lapse after last week extending its offer, for the sixth time, to February 20.

    "Since they announced their offer way back in May last year, we have increased the [Reko Diq] resource fairly substantially . . . but their offer is still there, still the same price," Mr Moore said.

    "I think it has actually stifled our share price. You have $US2 [a pound] copper. We've got this massive copper boom going on. If you look at Tethyan's share price, it has been linked to the bid price for the last seven months."

    Tethyan's share price closed half a cent lower yesterday at 70c. Copper futures in New York are trading close to a record $US2.11 a pound.

    The Perth-based company said it had doubled the mineral resource at Reko Diq to more than 2.4 billon tonnes of ore containing 27 billion pounds (12.4 million tonnes) of copper and 21 million ounces of gold. The resource is based on an average grade of 0.51 per cent copper and 0.27 grams per tonne of gold.

    Mr Moore said it placed Reko Diq among the largest 25 copper deposits in the world based on deposits contained in the US Geological Survey.

    "The offer, if it didn't reflect the value then, is very far short of reflecting the value now," he said. "They [Crosby] should either make a decent offer or go away."

    Under Tethyan's heads of agreement with Antofagasta, the Chilean company will initially commit $US133 million for a 50 per cent stake in Tethyan's interests in Reko Diq and a 17.3 per cent stake in Tethyan.

    Crosby, through its takeover vehicle, Skafell, has criticised the deal, saying Tethyan shareholders faced an immediate 20 per cent dilution in the company and a further 50 per cent dilution through the creation of the joint venture.
 
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