To be fair to RIO, they had their share of company making debt problems and I don't think their banks would have been too pleased for another TO. Sounds like a timing issues.
As LE mentioned in the other site, if this was rewound back 2 years, I think a different set of propositions would have been in place.
I don't see why RIO can't make another attempt to court EXT but more aggressively rather than a JV. If their grading issues and lack of tonnage continues to hamper their production, I don't think they have a choice. It will be like killing 2 birds with one stone. They get to solve production problems and inherit a world class resource that fits into their strategy of only concentrating on LARGE resource.
EXT Price at posting:
$7.53 Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
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