Chris Ecclestone: What M&A Deals Reveal About Management—And If They're Worth Your Investment Dollars

"Obvious" or "huh/what?"—these are the two types of merger and acquisition deals, according to Hallgarten & Co. Principal Analyst Chris Ecclestone. In this wide-ranging interview with The Metals Report, Ecclestone discusses the anatomy of a mining deal, a few strategic metals stories flying under the radar and Soros Fund's latest maneuver in the metals market. Along the way, he skewers management teams that cut costs everywhere except the corner office while spending billions on mega-mines with no future.

The Metals Report: In the 2013 Review of global trends in the mining industry, PwC describes the "crisis of confidence" in the mining sector. Does that analysis apply to the specialty metal miners? Are there opportunities in this small sector...