I hope all of you soccer/football aficionados appreciate that...

I hope all of you soccer/football aficionados appreciate that title... working that reference in took me longer than it probably should have. Also, that "7" was supposed to be a "?" heh heh but they don't let me use one in a title for some reason, that was the closest I could get. Spoilsports.

Aaanyway, this from the Australian. Personally I find this journalist to be intelligent and well informed.

"RUSSIANS SPOT LAMBERT (The Australian)

Kevin Andrusiak | June 13, 2008

ANYONE who lives and breathes magnetite in Australia knows how difficult it can be to keep the market interested.

It has always been viewed, and probably will be for a while to come, as a poor cousin of the higher-grade hematite.

But don't let that fool you, there are some very savvy magnetite fans out there in resources land, and some punters are picking up on the improving vibe for the mineral.

And the Chinese couldn't care less where the iron ore comes from, or what type it is - as long as it fits in the blast furnaces, they'll lap up the stuff.

This week, Cape Lambert formalised a deal with China Metallurgical Group, known as MCC, to sell its namesake project in the Pilbara for a cool $400 million.

The Cape Lambert project, now at feasibility stage, has a sizeable resource of 156 million tonnes and MCC had a few stop-starts in getting a hold of the project because of the backlog of claims at the Foreign Investment Review Board.

The deal has to be signed off by Cape Lambert shareholders.

But there was movement at the station yesterday as word had obviously got around that China wasn't the only interested applicant for Cape Lambert.

Hello, Russia!

The Russians, namely the Roman Abramovich-controlled Evraz, told the Singapore stock exchange today that it would take up its rights to convert the 28 million options it holds in Cape Lambert - through the Singapore-based Delong Holdings - which would give it about 13 per cent of the company.

The timing seems strange and Daily Assay reckons it is because of the MCC deal.

It could very well be that Evraz might itself want to launch a bid for Cape Lambert.

At the moment, the Cape Lambert board is bound by its sale agreement with MCC. But that could all change if the Russians come up with a bigger bid, which Cape Lambert would be bound to consider.

“We look forward to working with MCC to achieve sale completion and to an ongoing, mutually rewarding relationship,” Cape Lambert chairman Ian Burston said when announcing the sale agreement on Thursday.

Further to all this, the speculation today was that MCC had been buying up shares on-market to shore up its position in regards to Cape Lambert and keep the pesky Russkies out.

More than 11 million shares in Cape Lambert were traded today, representing around 3 per cent of the company's total issued equity.

It's probably a sure bet that the Cape Lambert crew will have to meet with Evraz - Delong - next week, which should provide for some interesting moments for the board.

Have a good weekend, Roman, have a good weekend, Ian, and have a great weekend, readers."

Hope you have a good weekend too, Mr Andrusiak.