Agree neither RIO nor FMG 'need' FMS in terms of ore reserves...

Agree neither RIO nor FMG 'need' FMS in terms of ore reserves (short term) but they would't want any one else to come in and become a mining competitor. So if either India, China, South Korea or Japan do come into play then the locals would be keen to out bid them. And looking long term, eventually RIO and FMG will run out of ore so maybe they will be the first to put their hands up. I can see maybe that even if a foreign company does takeover FMS they could choose to continue to buy ore from FMG and RIO and then in 50-60 years time when these companies have no more ore the foreigner will have their own reserves, which would become extremely valuable as world deposits decrease. The Chinese in particular are well known for forward thinking whereas we only think about the present generation. Interesting times!!