"Chile's government at the national and regional levels is very pro-mining," says Christopher Ecclestone, a mining analyst for Hallgarten & Co. "It's in the blood". For the moment SQM is waiting to see if the Chevy Volt is a hit.
It became "a case of many hands in the barrel" says one mining analyst.
"It's a challenging market," said Ash Lazenby, a mining analyst at Liberum Capital in London.
Brian Chen, a mining analyst at Citigroup, said "the fundamentals look so good in terms of supply and demand".
"BHP is in a pincer for the time being," said Jeff Largey, a mining analyst at Macquarie.
Mark Smith, a mining analyst in Toronto, said that "in a bull market, risk tends to be forgotten".
Terence Ortslan, an independent mining analyst in Montreal, said that a combination of Alcan and Pechiney made sense.
Randgold remains a very small company without the expertise of AngloGold, said Charles Kernot, a mining analyst at BNP Paribas.
"He was the most bullish of C.E.O.'s in the biggest bull cycle we have ever seen," said Paul Gait, a mining analyst with Bernstein Research in London.
"The proposed deal combines Xstrata's high-margin mining operations with Glencore's low-margin sales and marketing business," said Charles Cooper, a mining analyst at Oriel Securities in London.
"What investors are upset about is how these mining companies burned billions of dollars through write-downs," said Rob Clifford, a mining analyst at Deutsche Bank.
