MINING AGENDA

SRK's Pfahl on M&A outlook

John Pfahl, an experienced strategy advisor with leading global firm SRK, believes bullish sentiment toward longer-term higher metal prices will drive more of the sort of selective, pre-emptive asset buying seen with Goldcorp’s C$247 million acquisition of Exeter Resource Corp and its low grade Caspiche gold-copper deposit in Chile. But it will take a further surge in prices to stimulate a return to heady M&A levels, and serious exploration spending, in key commodity sectors.