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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21392351-… Marathon battle - the rules of engagement Kevin Andrusiak March 16, 2007 RULE number one in the mining game when a hostile suitor springs a surprise bid on your boardroom table is to get on the phone and tell shareholders to sit tight. Rule number two is make sure you keep pumping out some decent drilling results in what is thinly veiled as a two-fingered salute to your predator. That's exactly what uranium explorer Marathon Resources has done in a move which would only add to the blood pressure of the bid plotters at Crosby Capital Partners. But before we get into the drill results, let's go back to July 5 last year when Crosby launched its takeover for Marathon. The Hong Kong-based company at the time said there was little to like about the aspiring junior, but even so the company was worth an offer of 68c a share. Privately, many sniggered at the offer - which was made through Crosby's subsidiary Buttermere _ and came in at a small premium to where the share price was trading at the time. Marathon shares tracked from a close of 55c the previous day to a close of 76c the day Buttermere went public with the offer. Buttermere argued that Marathon was not a liquid stock and without it, there was no surety shareholders could easily sell on the market. They also said Marathon's Mt Gee project in South Australia was no certainty of ever getting up and running because it was in the lowest confidence category. But since the bid was launched, Marathon's share price has not looked back. Nine months had passed and Buttermere had no takers. Little surprise given that Marathon's stock price jumped through the $4 hurdle in November. As the uranium frenzy grew, Buttermere proved stubborn enough to keep its 68c a share bid on the table by moving to extend the offer a number of times. If the industry wasn't laughing before, they would have been rolling around the ground when Buttermere sheepishly upped the offer last week to $3.52 a share and added "the underlying fundamentals" of Marathon had not changed. In response, Marathon chairman Peter Williams said on Wednesday that the board's position had not changed. Shareholders should continue to reject the bid. However the board would mull over the new offer and release a new supplementary target statement "within the next week". Which brings us to today and the new drilling results from Mt Gee which will surely be a factor in Marathon boardroom deliberations over the new bid. "Marathon is pleased to announce the intersection of further significant uranium mineralisation in the western part of its 100 per cent owned Mt Gee deposit in South Australia," the opening line to its Australian Stock Exchange announcement read. "The Mt Gee deposit, with its Inferred Resource of 45.5 million tonnes of uranium mineralisation averaging 0.068 per cent U3O8, or 69 million pounds of contained U308, is one of Australia's largest undeveloped uranium deposits." The new hits were outside of the defined resource area and include 16 metres at 0.10 per cent U3O8 between 23m to 39m down hole RC07MN057. "These results are further confirmation of Marathon's deposit model and the extension of the resource to the south and east of the previously defined resource area," Marathon chief executive Dr John Santich said. The results still need to be verified by geochemical analysis. The market responded by pushing Marathon's share price 1c higher to $3.70 which was a tad disappointing given the massive bounce in the market. However Fat Prophets believes that a rival to Buttermere's bid is brewing. "Given the way uranium prices are edging ever higher, along with the unprecedented level of corporate interest in the uranium sector in Australia, we believe members should maintain their position in Marathon," analyst Gavin Wendt said. "Marathon are holding one of the sector's best uranium exposures in our opinion." |
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| aus der Diskussion: | Marathon Resorces: Gewaltige Uranmengen in Australien! |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | Maigret (16.03.07 16:06:53) |
| Beitrag: | 134 von 205 (ID:28329859) |
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