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Great interview and the j.v comment is hugely revealing. It reduces the options to just two.

No disagreement there.

schlemiel, I think they can take the risk. They have the financial fire-power to outbid anyone and their current stake does give them leverage...despite what some people think. This is not to say they won't make a pre-emptive move, just that they can cope with one if it emerges.
Strider, I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

Strider, "movements so far have been aggressive". Wrong. The 45p placing was a mutually agreed deal.
The six week thing is irrelevant and I wouldn't hang my hat on that if I were you.
"they won't give NM advanced warning". Given their current status as friendly shareholder, I'm not sure you are right.

This question has reminded me of my early career in the City where we spent months being taught about risk analysis.
Aside from the obvious balance sheet stuff, we also looked at tell-tale 'softer' signs of high risk. These included; expensive head offices (RBS), corporate jets (RBS, Tesco), always look in the car park, especially the spaces reserved for directors, disproportionately high director remuneration, fancy and over-blown report and accounts and expenses for the directors, amongst many others.
Todays list would include the use of hair products, sharp suits and horrible, brown pointy shoes.

Hubris in a CEO is one of the deadliest of sins...think of James Parsons at SOU as a prime example. Having said that, NM doesn't appear to be cut from the same cloth and seems to be very rooted.

I'm confused as to why people are waiting for AE to say something. 1) he's under investigation by the FCA and I guess has been told not to post anything on his blog, and 2) he's not a director of Whet and appeared to have been sidelined after his comments prevented the company from gaining NEX status. Therefore, what authority does he have to say anything? I assume none. It's for the directors of Whet to make the announcements.
The other thing to bear in mind is that Britdaq doesn't work like a traditional exchange. The price is not set by a market maker, but simply by someone chancing their arm and placing shares for sale at a price they hope to achieve...in other words, they make it up. If a bb such as this starts giving it a bit of hype, people believe "something must be happening" and buy; thus, due to its highly illiquid nature, forcing the share up even more. Hence the hype becomes self-perpetuating.
Shareholders have been kept in the dark for a very long time, so it's to be hoped that something is going on, but I very much doubt it will involve "£2bn" of assets.

It would be fair to say yesterday's announcement hasn't gone unnoticed. Some great coverage out there.

KB, well, I agree with you about the price! But NM won't be at the helm when the mining starts. And we won't be discussing the matter anymore on this bb.

schlemiel, didn't you find that particular comment just a tad arrogant? I imagine NM did.
It's great having them board, but we could do with less of the bully-boy shite. And if someone like RTZ wants to have a pop, it would be quite amusing to ask Beaven about his "timing we choose". Typical large company bluster.

KB, I think you may have misunderstood what Strider was saying...unless you happen to believe the company will survive as an independent entity for years to come?

Strider, in fact, I think we both agree. However, the way I see it is that there are still various hurdles BHP want see cleared before they get serious. It's obvious they seem to think their stake means it's almost a given that they will end up owning the assets and that their stake is an effective blocking mechanism to prevent anyone else getting hold of us (I know we all have different views of this), but I bet that's how BHP see it. I'm not so sure Newcrest would agree!
Btw, their continued failure to nominate a board director acts only to confirm my view about their unwillingness to become insiders. Having said that, I bet we get an RNS tomorrow stating that they have done so!

It's interesting that they say the current navps rates the company as being slightly above that of its peers, whereas that bloke yesterday (can't remember from which company) produced a very informative graph which demonstrated the exact opposite. In fact, SOLG was at the bottom of the pile.

You can imagine how much time has gone into this document and it's clear they see it as being the very cornerstone of their future, but what is the overall tone?
To me, it's a step back from the swashbuckling, entrepreneurial days and is much, much more corporate and employs endless management-bullsheet speak so beloved of the modern business world.
But this begs a question; it's all very well redefining yourself as being the paragons of conservative good sense, but if your competitors are out there still taking the major risks, how do you respond? Do you sit on the sidelines? Or do you join the party?
Their investment here is a very clear indication that they are doing their level best to mitigate risk, but that they realise sitting back is not an option because they know their competitors are circling every major global discovery like sharks off the beach in Perth. NM has brilliantly negotiated us into a position whereby we benefit whichever way this evolves.

Schlemiel, I agree, there is a strong emphasis on the long term element of what they are outlining in the document. This is all about laying-out to investors how they see the future and is obviously in response to concerns about the lack of major opportunities which will guarantee their status as the world's largest miner.
I also like how they place us in the "optionality" category. This kind of implies that they feel they have an "option" over us, which of course, they don't.

My apologies, it is now on their web site,.

Very interesting comments and is a clear statement of their intentions. To me, it says we won't be seeing a takeover by BHP inside the next 6 to 9 months; but, assuming everything goes to plan, they fully intend to buy.
They are desperate to prove to the market that they've learnt the lessons of the past and need to be as near to 100% certain of an exploration targets success as is possible. I see that coming post-PEA/MR3 and even PFS.
Of course, if someone else turns up, BHP will react accordingly. They have their feet firmly wedged in the door and now they'll sit back for a period and watch how things unfold.
They have also just issued an RNS which discusses their capital allocation process. It's not on their web site yet, but should be later today and will provide interesting reading.

stevo, if someone buys the whole company, in exchange for the buyers money, you give them your shares. At which point you buy a villa on a greek island and live happily ever after.

I think we can safely anticipate a favourable brokers report in the not too distant.

I think he may have meant "compliant". Personally, I've never heard of a JORC "complaint".