Ann: December 2016 Quarterly Activities Report, page-20

Blackrock have been accumulating for for a long time and never sell, now at 16.86% of the register. I don't see them hunting any other ASX listed stock to such a level with total control and patient buying on dips. I don't know if anyone else finds this odd like I do - Blackrock are an investment bank and not in the gold mining business and they are methodically approaching the 20% threshold (explanation from ASX below for people that don't know what this means). For my mind, these actions stink of gaining enough voting rights to help another party gain the required balance of power for a hostile takeover. I can't think of any other reason than that as they approach the 20% threshold. Or are Blackrock just really bullish gold and NST in general (highly unlikely and I call bullsh*t).

"Regulatory requirements(link)
Takeovers in Australia are regulated by a combination of legislation, government policy and stock exchange rules. The main takeover rules are spelt out in the Corporations Act and are administered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. If a dispute arises, it is managed by the Takeovers Panel.

There are many rules covering takeovers but let’s look at one of the main ones — the 20 per cent rule.
This states that a person cannot acquire more than 20 per cent of a company unless via a specified exception, which includes takeover bids and schemes of arrangement. So when the 20 per cent threshold is hit, the takeover machinery is triggered."