rio - bhp jv on iron ore, page-8

hey kruiser,

you make some good points.

regarding rail access to UMC, the benefit for rio/bhp is that it keeps fmg/chinese out of their backyard.

regarding timing, from their announcement, rio/bhp are looking to be up and running by mid next year, the end of 2010 at the latest or sumone is up for $292m.
as u suggest they may very well offer it as a sweetener deal to the regulators.

how much volume would they allow? i reckon anywhere between 5mt-10mtpa would seal the deal for UMC, and rio/bhp wouldnt even blink at that "loss" of capacity when they're shipping over 400mtpa combined.

i do agree with u tho on the opportunity cost of holding UMC against other opportunities at the moment.

and thats where management come into it.
we (shareholders) really do need an update as to the companies direction.

are we for sale?
are we going into production?
are we working thru a jv/mgs deal?
are we doing nothing?
are we picking 6 numbers a week and hoping for the best?

i love visuals and assay results as much as the next shareholder, but we need to know wats going on with the corprate activity.

the markets are rallying.
will it hold?
who knows.
but in the short term there are gains to be made elsewhere.

i know management have bore the brunt of frustrations, and i have been one of their more vocal defenders, but in light of todays developements (BCI, RIO, FMG, BHP) they need to give us a reason to keep the faith...

all just in my boozey friday night opinion...