Cyl, I realize your Vale/Xstrata example is just that, but for a matter of interest and possible debate, I believe all that would practically result in your example is that $9 to 11 would become the new floor price for the stock. No doubt the Offeror might end up up with a bunch of stock, but the larger holders simply would not budge; and the next stop might be $15-20, but we would still be drilling higher values as the processes wore on into the fall of 2008.

I just want to emphasize that the strategy of a sneak attack does not work, not just because of the shareholder rights plan but because the play has now been well publicized and is on the main radar of every major out there. Otherwise, I agree with all you say re timeliness, but the strategy is looking masterful. RN's message to the mining world=we do not need to pump the stock, the iceberg is a lot bigger than what I could show you anyway.