RE:RioSooner, if that comment was directed at me, I appreciate the thought. However, I've been an owner of Rio Tinto for an awfully long time and have never sold a single share... Ever... I only add to my position when I believe the stock price to be undervalued. The twice a year dividends have always been reinvested and on occasion, if I've thought the stock was a little high, I've put some of the proceeds into another well-run company (almost always boring.... The more boring the business, the more I like it)...
The bulk of Rio's business (iron ore) is digging up rocks for 22ish bucks a ton and selling them to the Chinese for 100+ a ton (in today's dollars)... Sometimes more sometimes less... But being a low cost producer, the iron ore segment of the business is still profitable at roughly 70 bucks a ton ... And at that price, most other producers have to drastically curtail operations or shut down all together... and we pick up the slack... 151 years in business... And for the last 20 years as an owner I've put up with several economic cycles and have never worried about the business (other than the Alcan acquisition... Yikes!!.. but it eventually worked out...).
Anyway, I think Rio Tinto is positioning itself relatively well for the next few decades no matter what happens here... For the record, I believe missing out on this asset (Casino) would be a tremendous miscalculation on Rio Tinto's part... I think it can be had relatively cheaply in relation to the current and future material value contained in the deposit over the 75+ years of mine life...
Additionally, (not to make a big deal out of it) but since it has been brought up previously, I have it on good authority that we (Western/Rio) did some sampling at several locations on our property adjacent to Casino. It's possible this may be the reason for Sandeep's recent drilling comments...