There is no need to hurry? we have until the middle of February...

There is no need to hurry? we have until the middle of February or so until this deal is sealed.

If another bid is coming - it should arrive early to mid January. The mini FMG?s has arrived, given its the only one of its type, I cannot see another merger offer from another minor player such as AGO. From AGO?s point of view this is a great merger, close proximity, >200% increase in its DSO resources. It is - and always was (for us GIR holders) a very, very good fit. Not only that, it also picks up a bunch of other assets that it can spin out over time - and help pay for the bid. It also picks up a large amount of cash and investments (~$80m+), especially since some of those holding(e.g. CAP) have done very, very well recently. So in short I can only see three other real possibilities.

(a) A Chinese bid. GIR is probably, realistically the last decent takeover opportunity in the Pilbara. One would expect a $5.50 cash - which would make it another 20%. The Mt Webber deposit is substantive enough to justify development.

(b) Which brings up FMG. The other side of the Mt Webber synform is owned by FMG, and assuming its analogous - one would expect similar tonnages. It could be a very attractive proposition for FMG to have a simple drill and blast operation, in addition to its mechanised strippers at Cloudbreak/Christmas Creek, with a total resource greater than 600Mt. I think this is actually a real possibility. FMG could also do a bunch of floats of assets that it does not want - and it could raise a bunch of cash that way to pay for its bid. It could even sell daltons to AGO - and Western Creek to BHP!!!

(c) The last is a bit of a long shot - but there is a real possibility that BHP could make a bid for this. Western Creek is contiguous with BHPB?s Silver Knight deposit. It also wants to increase its holdings in the Earaheddy - and GIR could be the excellent vehicle for that.

Either way - the game is on - its not over by any stretch. And can I say, that managements timing is perfect?