I'm not sure I quite agree with your last conclusion, although...

I'm not sure I quite agree with your last conclusion, although much else of what you say (about the relationships on the board) seems about right. I'm not having a go at you, I have a different take on your last conclusion.

RIO at the moment has its hands full, and probably hands tied, trying to work through the Chinalco deal and, if it fails, a capital raising. RIO will be unable to make any large purchases before that is finalised, probably late this year. So "forcing RIO's hand", giving them a deadline of "now" is simply unrealistic, everyone knows they cannot meet it. And I also think it would be pretty stupid to exclude a major player this early. So I don't agree with this scenario.

However, I think you're right that Peter Mac would like to run a mine, in a JV with RIO, rather than just take cash. Whereas KAH & sundry others would like cash now. Hence the board members jockeying for position.

It would be nice if RIO could buy out the KAH interests, freeing the EXT share registry, then JV with EXT. I think it would solve a lot of conflicting priorities by various players. For EXT holders, we might miss out on a big cash payout now but we would get a much bigger cash flow (and an overall better payout) lasting years and years.

I, like you, am also glad HC has lost the ridiculous postings. I miss the casual chit-chat of earlier days, though, and wish a few others would return. Glad to see you're still with us, luckll.