Out of respect for most of the posters here, let me say I think we are all feeling the pain and distress of the prolonged wait time. There is nothing we can do and it is fair to say we are all concerned about how positive the outcome will be and how it will effect our lifestyle. Well, so is our management and insider group. Make no mistake, this is a huge career deal for each and everyone one them. We all have different parameters for valuing a deal, but we can't impute our expectations on management. Just because we are happy with break-even, a one bagger or even a 3 bagger doesn't mean we should settle for less than fair value. That's what differentiates EE and perhaps DM and perhaps most of our management group from us. In the industry they are part of, capturing fair value is a success and respectability measuring stick among their peers. All the players - whether it is the acquirer or aquiree, know this. So all of the questions, concerns, what ifs, suppositions we have about the deal - well - management feels they are doing the best they can on behalf of themselves and us. That's all we can ask, isn't it? This is a huge deal in today's economy. Could be $4.5-5 billion in expenditures for Teck. And, I gotta ask again - how many of us have been part of negotiating a deal of this size ?- I know Teck doesn't have mounds of experience - well, Fording Coal but ...). Would they likely take this on without a partner(s)? Don't think so (my opinion). So there is the time delay in digesting the deal itself, then the time delay in attracting a partner (I think 2), then the lawyering up ( gotta look at all the options - which includes making legal sense of the Salazar Agreement plus addendums).

I made the rounds and talked to the folks at CF this week, all of whom were very courteous and professional in their responses, and I came away feeling that negotiations are on-going, that so far everything is positive, everyone is happy with the back and forth dialogue, no-one has said no and the lawyers are looking at various components of a potential deal. I didn't detect any negatives. This is mid-April, and if it was a no, Teck probably wouldn't be spending the time in continued talks. In the end, would EE and Teck agree on a fair price? Well.. that's the question and no-one has the answer until the offer is presented. So, don't try to over -analyze the situation - a big deal doesn't happen overnight. What I take from it is comfort the talks are on-going, and EE has just contributed another $2.5M at .79 cents. However, I do think our group is doing everything it can to bring about a fair liquidity event.

I don't know if this will relieve anyone's anxiety (we're all going though it) but I thought I would put this out there to the true longs who are waiting patiently and optimistically. There hasn't been much feedback about management interaction lately.

We have tremendous insider financial support, a Canadian based top 4+ mineral basket of goodies, and further unexplored resources. Plus - there's nothing we can do except sell to relieve our current misery - either way, whining and negativity isn't going to help!. Let's continue to give them some support!