RE: Barrick Will Surpass NewmontI was speculating that Pierre Lassonde of Newmont is very competitive and would not be pleased with seeing Barrick jump ahead. If for no other reason it gives the big institutional investors an alternative to Newmont when searching for a large cap gold miner to hold in their portfolios. Lassonde and now Telfer at the helm of Goldcorp both run excellent companies and are both acquisitive and with so few potentially strong economic mining prospects in friendly areas like Canada, Virginia has to be in the crosshairs. Placer Dome would have been a weak competitor given its operating track record and stock performance. Barrick's perceived metamorphisis from a hedging addict and puppet of the cabal, enabled its stock to lead the majors (along with Goldcorp) giving it a valuable currency other than cash or cash through debt with which to make acquisitions. The Africans are out of the picture as their stocks and performance have been miserable. So the majors in good shape to be acquisitive are Goldcorp, Barrick, and Newmont with the notation that Barrick and to a lesser extent, Goldcorp, have now filled their plates for awhile leaving the table open to Newmont. Perhaps a mid-tier company could step up and make an aggressive bid for a Virginia, but if Newmont wants Virginia, these guys could not win a bidding war versus Newmont. Bidding against Lassonde is like bidding against Steinbrenner for a baseball trophy. I rambled a lot but that's my rationalization.