Currently, Jinchuan Group Ltd of China is attempting a takeover of CML at .22/share....note that the shares are currently trading at .16

A little background....CML shut down their nickel mine to sort out some startup problems; they were trading for about .23 before this mishap. When the mine started up again, the shares only recovered back to about .17...that's when the Chinese company moved in for the kill. Yesturday, CML stated that they have ramped up production to about 68% of expected capacity.

Next, we have Jilen Jien Nickel Industry Co, who through a joint venture with Goldbrook Ventures took out Canadian Royalties (CZZ) at .60/share. The deal was a bit more complicated as CZZ had encurred some debt in an effort to start up a mine just prior to the market meltdown. It seemed apparent that they were about to default on some of this debt.

In both of these cases, the takeout candidates had some good nickel and/or PGE's. In both cases, the takeouts involved a Chinese company. In both of those cases, the takeout occured at a time that could be construed as opportunistic. Finally, in both cases, there was no white knight.

Another point, which I think is quite relavant is the fact that the Chinese hold a very large chunk of U.S. debt. Just yesturday, a large fund had announced that they were getting rid of all of their exposure to U.S. treasuries. The Chinese of late have been out spending alot of money on resource companies. It seems they are quite willing to perhaps transfer some of their holdings in U.S. paper for companies with hard assets.

Of course the Chinese will be interested in the ROF....but, from what I'm seeing so far, don't expect some huge premiums if they are the only players in town. At least for now, there is Cliffs.

Just the way I see it for now