the guys running kinross aren't stupid. they're like a football team that just scored a touchdown, and they know their receiver caught the ball out of bounds. now they're hurrying up to kick the extra point before anyone else figures out what happened.

but it won't matter, because even if a competing bid doesn't appear (which i doubt) they still won't get the votes, since the funds will decide the issue, and the guys running the funds aren't stupid, either. they know what aru is worth, and they won't take this crazy bid of 6 or 8 or however you want to calculate it.

for that matter, are we sure management will vote their shares for it? publicly they say the right things to support it, in order to get the auction started. but patrick and the seven dwarves have access to all the drill info, and they know better than anyone else how much this company is worth. and since they have more to lose than anyone else, are they going to give aru away for a fraction of its value?

they have a lot riding on this maneuver, and i'm inclined to think they're waiting for the next bid just as eagerly as we are.