Re:

"The new CEOs reflect the industry’s focus away from M&A, (a trend noted in our Global Mining Deals: Down, but not out) and towards achieving operational cost improvements and delivering projects on budget."

It strikes me that cost improvement and delivering projects presently under way is precisely what AUM management is now doing. Do you disagree?

We don't know that AUM management is NOT focused away from M&A, do we? You wouldn't know that until the deal was done and then it's too late. I would say my biggest concern is exactly that, that AUM will be acquired for pennies and dilute us further before management "acheiving operational cost improvements and delivering projects on budget" actually occurs and AUM becomes cashflow positive! I actually visited the office of AUM in Golden several months ago and talked to Karen Winkler and asked her exactly that. Of course I received the usual "can't comment", which didn't leave me feeling warm and fuzzy. Have they delivered anything on time and budget yet? Really, I'm not sure... if someone could enlighten us.