bad timing.

Niagra and now "Posseidon"(shorthand for Irrational Exuberance) have been stuffing around with this dirt for years. Why? Cause there aint a lot to get excited about. Unless you are the "Jumping Joey Foundation" cause Twiggy is pilling money into their carpet-bag.

Have they missed the boat?

Can anyone recall anything Doug and Chris Dawes did that made money?.........................for stakeholders I mean. Global conditions are looking choppy.

7:36 PM, 20 Aug 2008 BHP says local nickel operations safe



BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc, the world's third-biggest producer of nickel, is not planning any changes to its Australian nickel-making operations, a company spokeswoman said, despite declining world prices for the metal.

Analysts have predicted a slew of closures in the sector in response to sagging prices for the stainless steel alloy, which are down around 60 per cent from record highs above $51,000 a tonne 15 months ago.

BHP which in June idled its Kalgoorlie nickel smelter and Kwinana refinery in western Australia for four months of repair work, was operating its mines and other processing facilities as normal, the spokeswoman said.

"We are not considering any changes to our operations," she said.

Steady declines in nickel prices are heightening pressures on miners to close unprofitable operations, DJ Carmichael & Co analyst James Wilson said.

"At $8.90 a pound, nickel is looking a lot worse for wear. If you're a high-cost, low-margin producer, which a lot of the miners outside of Australia are, you'd be looking at tough times ahead," Wilson said.

The weaker Australian dollar, down 10 per cent against the US dollar since mid-July, is also seen helping insulate Australian mining operations from the worst of the rout caused by tumbling prices.

Another big producer, Xstrata Plc said on Tuesday it was suspending its Falcondo ferronickel mining operation in the Dominican Republic. The move effectively takes about 10,000 tonnes, or less than 1 per cent of nickel out of the global supply pool.

But BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers on Monday said the nickel market looked "manageable."