I suspect CUU and Teck must have discussed a buyout. It doesn't take 150 days+ to draft this JV agreement.

If I was a fly on the wall I would guess CUU's asking price was too much risk for Teck to commit to. They would much rather diversify and not commit as much investment into Schaft Creek at this time. A buyout would have cost $100's of millions, instead of $20M now and $40M after milestones are met. I think only time and more drilling will lower the risks and increase the viability of producing the mine. IMHO, this was well thought out by Teck to manage their risk, perhaps a lesson learnt from Fording Coal.

With the insiders holding the lions' share of the vote, CUU won't be bought out cheap, there is way more upside than risk today than yesterday now that the JV is in effect. Young Money is right, proving more resources now will create a higher floor as uncertainty of what's in the ground becomes certain.

Calvin