What I can't get my head around is the first 75%. They wouldn't actually get that 75% until they had paid 4Xexpenditures and arranged financing. That could take years and it is the riskiest part of the whole deal hoping that there are no overruns on costs and that metal prices don't dip so low it is no longer viable, that they can find employees, the mystery 4-year schedule, etc.

So if they take the outstanding shares and pay approximately 25% of the value of the whole, could they then collapse the whole contract and start again? I guess. Except for the deal with Liard. (Under the circumstances I think the 25% would be worth more than 25% because we could just sit around owning that amount while Teck built the mine and moved our share value up quite a lot as it became a producing mine.)

If they don't take the 25% then I don't think they're are in a very good position and it would be a risky deal for them to take on. In that case I would think they would want the whole deal wrapped up in one tidy package.

So 40% might be the better option. They won't have to arrange financing. They want 40% anyway. They know Elmer has been getting lots of phone calls from Chinese and Korean buyers. They could then earn-back the 40% but stop paying at any time they felt it was no longer a good investment and they could revert to the 1% net smelter royalty.