Pre-production costs are defined as all costs incurred prior to a production decision except early works costs.

I disagree. The contract deals with costs, and then has a specific clause to deal with the purchase of more Liard shares. It seems reasonable to consider the specific clause rather than a general wording of "costs" especially since buying new shares is not a cost of doing business.

It wasn't Teck's "opportunity" to exclude them from Pre-P, it was specifically stated that we had 30 days in which to opt in and make a proportional payment. We opted in and then our payment was relegated to the pre-production fund which Teck currently has to pay $60 million before we pay a penny. Clearly the clause was not written, nor intended to have Teck pay our share of more Liard shares.

The only different I can see is that the agreement is not made public under this arrangement. If we had paid our share it would have been made public. Maybe they are negotiating for the other outstanding shares and don't want to reveal the details of this negotiation?