True Chuk and good point. Nevertheless, we must not forget that...

True Chuk and good point. Nevertheless, we must not forget that most of these big players will not consider a project worth exploring, or a company worth taking over unless they could see a potential of some 10+ million ounces in the ground. At the time of-course either they didn't think there was that potential so they got rid of their asset, or there was a poor assessment of the potential in that region.(Yes chuk, inn hindsight,it was a bargain) I suspect in due course they may regret their action.But, also don't forget that big companies can afford to sit on the fence and pick up an asset at a later stage, albeit at what would be a small premium in their scheme of things. Meanwhile all the drudgery headaches dealing with environmental groups government approvals etc. etc. would have been done by the junior. In ABU's case a very competent junior that would have crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's. We have seen that with BHP on Olympic Dam and RIO on Oyu Tolgoi to name a couple.

Again I say patience, don't waste time posting on consolidation, focus on the technical developments, pray for grant of the ML ( Which to answer some posters; could happen tomorrow or take another couple of years) and let us see what the next few months bring.