I would have thought that there is a "HGO folder" in the CEO's...

I would have thought that there is a "HGO folder" in the CEO's filing cabinet of every large sized mining company. If not, they would be failing in two of their key job functions (1) constantly assess the competition and (2) look for opportunities.

Whilst not wanting to spread any grassy knoll conspiracies, doesn't it make sense that HGO becomes a more attractive "opportunity" the more they de-risk Kanmantoo and move it towards producing?

I'm not sure whether anyone will move on HGO, but you can be absolutely assured that the large miners are fully aware of the progress happening in the Adelaide foothills and they would be regularly adjusting their NPV's based upon that progress.

At some point, HGO may just fall within the ambit of some companies BUY price and, Yaq is deadset right, DS will be powerless to ward them off.

The only weapon that DS has atm is the "stink bug" strategy. That is, keep telling everyone that you stink, hoping that this repels them. Possibly Sumba and WP fall into the category of "sink bugs" in that they may noit be highly regarded assets.

Afterall with a wide open register and no known big companies appearing as Knights on white chargers, what defense can we mount?