It's an odd article because the Manila Bulletin (MB) reporter...

It's an odd article because the Manila Bulletin (MB) reporter got it all mixed up regarding the controlling stake issue.

The Philstar reporter covering the same story is more correct, link here:

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=695581

The article just confirms what I've been saying; that SMC is not interested unil key issues are resolved and key milestones achieved. If one day they are interested they'll want a controlling stake, MB says 51%, but 100% makes a lot more sense.

So it looks like SMC didn't take up the rights. I'd forget about anyone taking this over in the near term, except Xstrata who can outspend their way to full equity. The focus needs to be on key resolutions that increase the value of the project several factors more than the amount being spent to acheive them.

Unfortunately IRN don't control the amount and direction of spending. I expect this will be the basis of new issues to arise in the coming period.