Chalco takes note of Friedland's valuation of SouthGobi
Some people will be regretting that they didn't get into SouthGobi Resources earlier and benefit from the stock's 18 per cent surge yesterday on the back of Chalco's offer for up to 60 per cent of the company at HK$65.97 a share. But they can't say they weren't warned. For those that had ears to hear, Robert Friedland, the chairman and founder of Ivanhoe Mines, which owns 57.6 per cent of SouthGobi, spoke fulsomely about the company at the Mines and Money conference in Hong Kong recently. 'These are some of the most important coal systems in the world and the shares are ludicrously undervalued,' he said. Friedland said SouthGobi had increased its resources base to 800 million tonnes of metallurgical coal. 'This is a very powerful cash-flowing business and there are a lot of people interested in owning this business,' he said. A view evidently shared by Chalco.
Officers take zero option
Good to see that the Environmental Protection Department is tackling the task of cracking down on idling engines with the same zeal it applies to improving the quality of the city's air. The idling engine law came into effect on December 15 last year. James Middleton, the chairman of Clear the Air, recently asked the department how many fixed-penalty tickets it had issued to motorists. In a written reply, the department revealed it had issued a staggering total of zero fines. 'In general, the drivers are co-operative,' it said. One can only surmise that one of the requirements for an enforcement officer is seriously impaired vision.
Wonders of Italian food
To Gaia to celebrate the formation of the Hong Kong division of the Accademia Italiana Della Cucina. This is an organisation, which, in the words of Savio Pesavento, the president of the academy in Hong Kong, was started to 'preserve the Italian tradition, Italian products and the knowledge of our cuisine and to educate the public in the Italian tradition'. The occasion was graced by the presence of the president of the academy, Giovanni Balarini, vice-president Benito Fiore, Italian consul general Alessandra Schiavo, Italian trade commissioner Paola Guida and Lai See, among others. As befits the occasion, there were a number of speeches on the wonder of Italian food before the seriously educative part of the evening began and we got stuck into the excellent Italian food and wine. For those who want to know more, the academy has a website with essays on food and its role in the expression of a nation's culture. How come the British haven't set up a similar organisation?
