molycorp up more than 7% overnight, page-14

Utrader wrote: Has been raised before but at what stage does lyc become a T/O target to the majors ie bhp rio given they don't have dominant position in rare earths ?
Do the majors await the final sign off of the LAMP to give certainty going forward await cashflow and then take a strong position ?

Utrader,
The longer I look at this, the less I see a takeover as an end result for Lynas. The chemical side of rare earths and the integration elements are deterrents to BHP and Rio IMO. BHP and Rio are about size and scale. This industry is smaller and has different end markets. Therefore, the primary synergies are not there for BHP and RIO. Yes, Olympic Dam has a large tonnage of rare earth that the LAMP could process. But even there the TREO numbers are low, and BHP could make and sell concentrate without having to get into the specialty chemicals business. I think BHP will stay away now because they will think REE prices will go back to some historical mean. Then they will stay away latter because Lynas will be too big and too complicated for good synergies. So that's my view- till the announcement comes out and proves me wrong.:-)