I hear what you are saying, however, I think due to the nature of our vested interest in this project we think it is a bigger deal to Teck than it really is. For them to spend $800M on getting all of the rights to Shaft Creek isnt going to blow the doors of the media or raise any major coverage.
I typically think of M&A activity as what you see going on with the big boys now and companies trying to merge with each other. Teck could also be worried about being taken over...their market cap is also significnalty lower than where it was not so long ago.
I dont see Shaft Creek as M&A activity since they are just backing into an existing agreement. If they want to take the additional 25% I would think of it more as an "exploration" expense than a merger or acquistion.