takeover and aquisitions , page-39

There seems to be two diametrically opposed groups of posters here. Neither will give an inch or concede that another poster may have a valid point. (A bit like the federal parliament perhaps!!!).

I personally think TB should be applauded for the discipline to wait. (He has not done an IGO, NCM, BHP with shale gas, Barrick with EQN, or RIO with Alcan.) OZL does not have the bal sheet strength to get it wrong. If we did get it wrong, the sp would be $4 and a cap raising would be coming along. (Look at HGO and read some of that companies threads!!!)

In hindsight, a full t/o of SFR would have been a good move, but it did not happen. OZL at least has the ability to pursue other assets. Yes, it was a sin of omission.

We all think RXM is a worthwhile option. They have an open share register (unlike SFR), so a hostile t/o would probably succeed (as the insto's sold out). We just seem to be disagreeing on the timing of when to move.

From my understanding of the mine plan for P Hill, if Ankata had not been developed, we would be going from 100,000tpa of copper to 75,000tpa of copper. Ankata has at least kept production up. Some posters seem to be unwilling to credit TB for bringing this resource on stream to maintain the current production level. If that had not happened, can you imagine what the sp would be with declining production and a mine life of only 6 years? ($5 would have been a possibility as C1 went up and tonnes went down).

Mining in Aust is now a rich companies game. Most juniors struggle to bring exploration to production. (HGO is an example here of that struggle). SFR is an exception rather than the rule. We must also remember that OZL is not rich. I liken it to this. OZL has been given an inheritance. If we get an inheritance or win the lottery, one of two things can happen. It can be spent on depreciating assets (holiday, car, boat etc) or it can be invested and set you up for life. Now may be the time for OZL to spend the inheritance on RXM. Compared to SFR, it is probably a better deal at a cheaper price (maybe the sin of omission I mentioned earlier was a blessing in disguise). When compared to SFR, RXM has a bigger resource, longer mine life and is close to infrastructure. (yes it has a lower grade, but it is open pit).

I would not classify Burgess as an "overpaid, underperforming wealth destroyer". If you want to see one of those look at BSL. I would suggest that he knows he will only get one chance at this to get it right, and he does not want to "mess it up". He is certainly cautious, and that may frustrate some shareholders that want to see "something" happen now.

Will the dividend drop? I suspect so.

It has been a long post - but I thought it needed to be said.

HT1