I look forward to LotusLandCUU's answer to your question though I am not sure he goes back that far.

The PFS project economics according to the PFS of the day were exposing "out of this world" low cost per pound of copper with metal credits.  Minus $0.32 per lb of copper.  Yes minus 32 because of the amazing amount of gold, molybdenum and silver by-products and the low capex.  Then amazing and truly jaw-dropping geo-magnetic maps kept coming out exposing a mining district in the making with the then drilled deposit representing less than 1% of the property.  An insider was buying millions on the market. It seemed like every drilling program discovered better and better grades every time, or they massively increased tonnage in all directions.  Commodities started flying.  With the Salazaar agreement structure it seemed like a certainty that Teck would have to take us out before we exposed more value.  Going "ALL IN!" was the mantra of the year.  I picked a fight with Stifel for shares and within a matter of weeks the share price was going parabolic.  I ran out of money to invest at about $2.60 and that was oddly coincidental with the peak at $2.75 just days later iirc.

There were many more reasons for the frenzy and some will say it was hype spread around here by talented posters.  But they were only highlighting facts and suggesting continued value creation and imminent take overs.   That is the most succint recount of the "up, up, and away" times.  

Welcome to the forum!