Well Said Marpican
One of the aspects of this play all along has been the large personal stake RF has maintained - he has in the range of 100 million shares FD ... so the playing field for him alone walking away is in the $2 - $4 billion ballpark. And we little fish can tag along thanks to modern securities takeover and bid laws (we aren't completely corrupt as a society).
We low-renter trailer park folk sitting on ETG shares (like me) along with some IVN, have a fond wish that RF knows there is a huge whack of hi-grade ore in the Northern Extension on the JV (Zeus went over that ground starting in April ... anybody seen any results on the Northern Extension since the airport showings and the last big hole at 1300m? The resource calcs are based on drilling completed to only 640m N of the JV line - awesome grades - in November 2006!!!!)
ETG has been coyly poking about on their 100% ground to the West ... hmmmm wonder what IVN and/or RF might want a pile of cash for? Assuming like me, RF listens to people like Marc Faber on his BofD who tell him holding all his loot in cash would be trash. He wants more strategic assets ... you can count on it.
Buck up RioT - we're just watching a painful price negotiation here, aren't we? It's not as if they will walk away, especially after there last three "big deals" all imploded. They have to pay a fair price for what will be a multi-decade lynchpin asset for them as producers. OT is going to be one of the great mine complexes of all time - like RF said so long ago in Boca - Mongolia will be to China's modernization what Chile was to the USA in copper supply.
CG