Teck Tock, Teck Tock, Teck TockGoes the clock. It is instructive to note that the last mention of Petaquilla that one can find on the Teck website is in an October 2007 presentation. Inmet continues to mention Petaquilla as their largest source of potential growth in copper production.
Why has Teck dropped mention of their option on one of the largest, lowest cost, copper development plays in the world? Is this a mere negotiating ploy or have they grown chicken wings and are preparing to fly the coop? I suggest you put the buffalo sauce back in the cupboard. Copper is at or near record levels of $3.83 per pound and the production cost at Petaquilla would be $0.85. It is hard to find opportunities like this in any business, but particularly in base metals business. What isn't hard to find are junior companies that can be pushed around.
It is hard to get a feel for what the market thinks is going to happen next. However, the insiders at PTC and PTQ seem to continue to carry a lot of paper that will sink very fast should Teck choose not to pick up the option and another suitor not appear immediately under the current market conditions. In addition, Ken Morgan and Michael Katz at Strategem Capital, a major shareholder of PTC/PTQ, continue to accumulate their own stock as often as they can get it. This tells me that people with their ear to the ground have a warm fuzzy feeling even if the market doesn't.
https://www.teckcominco.com/Generic.aspx?PAGE=Investors+Pages%2fInvestor+Relations+Presentations&portalName=tc
https://www.inmetmining.com/Theme/Inmet/files/CIBC%20Institutional%20Investor%20Conf-Whistler%202008.02%20-%20FINAL.pdf