ebear

You made some terrific points throughout. As to the tax side, I remember so well as a bond trader in the 70's when "wage & price controls" were initiated in Can. What a shock to the mkts.!! Then there is Oct.31/06 when the rules for "income trusts" were changed. The point is you are not safe from tax changes in all democracies!!

I've previously made the point of the folly of the majors selling future production at today's prices. I'm going to assume the co's developing resources in Ecuador will use this knowledge during negotiations with Correa.

If you were the CEO of a major would you takeover ARU without knowing all the rules? We may have to tough it out a bit until Correa realizes he may not have a mining industry!! So you wait another year!! You know the value is there!!

Regards

Joltin