RE: Copper breaks $130016 Jan 2026 23:40
Evening FTJNY, I trust you are well.
In my view I don't believe the board rolled over but they have been trying to coax a bid for a number of years now and finally the first suitor made a play. The board twice rejected but ultimately couldn't get them over 28p which was their first hard line in the sand. Given that nobody else had come forward in years, I believe the board has gambled and decided to test the market. This is probably a sensible move for a few reasons.
1. The "Translating to French" delay didn't bring a bid
2. The "Strategic Review" delay didn't bring a bid
3. Ongoing derisking was not being reflected in the SP for monies spent achieving it
4. The "Explore Co" threat did not bring a bid.
So I believe rather than being cornered they have realised that nobody (except Quady) is buying the ruse that they can develop this themselves and they chose to get the best they could out of Jiangxi to trigger an auction.
Let's face it, if no other major or fund counters this now with bombastic metal prices and the biggest untapped resource in the world, then they were never going to.
For me it was the right gamble. Let's see if it pays off for them (though some of them papered up at 7 and 17p won't really care)