I see this as a prudent move by the board on several fronts. As...

I see this as a prudent move by the board on several fronts.

As mentioned by cheapprice it offers protection from Dingyi who have been trying to get this company on the cheap (I can't blame them for trying, the market is very tough at the moment and being opportunistic can pay off ten fold).

Secondly, given the share price (whether it is being manipulated or not is not, we will never know), it covers the potential funding gap from the options not being exercised.

The above factors may force Dingyi, if they are serious, to offer a decent value proposition to the shareholders of this company. There is so much upside with the projects currently in their portfolio and their relatively low CAPEX and OPEX (to be confirmed) but on face value it appears that the projects will be very competitive.

I believe the positives far outweigh the argument of further dilution to existing shareholders and makes life difficult for opportunistic low ball bids.

It will be interesting to see what unfolds in the coming months...... will it become binding, will Dingyi come back, is there another party watching from afar.......

All IMHO. GLTA