Good question Dilmac,I have no financial background , so take my...

Good question Dilmac,

I have no financial background , so take my opinion as that of a complete layman.

Takeover speculation and actuality can cause this stock to rise even with a flat copper price.

Lumwana hopes to be in the lowest quartile re cost of copper production, so that we can still make (some) profit at a low copper price. It all depends on how low the price goes.

In the base metals business , its all about being the last man standing. Continuing to produce, whilst your competitors shut down, which in turn causes a reduction in supply , which eventually leads to a price recovery.
but these cycles can take several years.

Current Cu price is in the $1.30 to $1.40 per pound range, and we aim ?? to produce at about $1.10 pound.Whether this price or less can be achieved is not yet known, as its really early days here yet.

One thing we can do is try to process more ore than the design 20MTPA, which makes our economics much more favourable.This we are actively attempting.

Pluses: Lumwana has a large orebody, easy metallurgy and is amenable to large scale operation and expansion.Plus it has good exploration prospects, having tied up some pretty good ground on the Copperbelt.

Negatives- low copper price, landlocked so have to truck/rail concentrate out of here ( not ship) , some political risk ( but not currently great), and still have to pay off the cost of the mine and processing plant.

For myself, a takeover bid NOW would be the worst thing that could happen. The punter would probably be offered $3-$4 per share, and lose all the blue sky of what COULD??? be a $10 share in a few years time.
Currently, the majority of EQN shares are listed on the North American exchange, and the minority on the Australian.

Sorry not to have answered your question better Dilmac, but a lot of this would be crystal ball gazing on my part.

I think these guys have a lot of medium to long term potential , and are well managed, which I could only say about a small number of mining stocks.

Whether they will survive to realise this potential without being "picked off" is anyones guess?

Best of luck

FatMan