The Ox I believe would do anything to fend the wolves off, hence...

The Ox I believe would do anything to fend the wolves off, hence the link to Newcrest. With Telfer and it's hedge book they would achieve this. The Ox needs to be a lot larger before Prominent Hill comes on line otherwise it's goodbye the Ox. Owen Hegarty is a very competent person and knows this. There will be corporate moves in 2007, especially with the Ox's huge cash flow. It will be big! Whilst I cannot confirm this, the rumour a few weeks ago of Zinifex taking over the Ox was augmented the wrong way. From the Ox camp, it was more the potential that the Ox take over Zinifex. The next Ox takeover may have a larger market cap than the Ox. When you're looking at potential targets, look big and look for zinc/copper/gold!. A small takeover will not get the wolves off the Ox's back!