``Richard (Laufmann) has put his hand up and it does seem like if Xstrata want to play they are going to have to pay more,'' Peter Arden, an analyst at Ord Minnett Ltd., an affiliate of JPMorgan Chase & Co., said today by phone from Melbourne. ``Having put their cards on the table to say they're interested, I'm sure they will have another dip.''
"This is a big deposit and, given the outlooks for copper and gold going forward, quite a prize for whoever gets to mine it," said Gavin Wendt, a mining analyst with Fat Prophets in Sydney.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see even higher offers coming from Xstrata or other interested parties," Wendt said.
