re: why is it so cheap? With the except of the last quarter,...

re: why is it so cheap? With the except of the last quarter, 2004 was a so-so year for MCR production, mainly due to labour / productivity issues. This, combined with the sector-wide "china cooling' fear, lead to share price decline. I don't think any of its peers (eg IGO, WSA and even FXR) have done well over the last six months.

Mine life of the various operations is probably only an average of three years, so with the bad news from earlier 2004 (now seemingly solved) I think the mkt was in a 'show me the money' mood. A significant rerating will require exploration success, but I think the new couple of ASX releases for 2004 suggest that the chances are good for this in 2005, and 2005 and 2006 should see very good cash surpluses from the mines, with likely increased divvies.

angus