Payable on demand is kind of hollow. If they had to come to ISM for a loan, who are they going to go to if ISM has to make demand?

It is collatarized by 'personal property'. That would not include any real property, or any mining claims, etc.

It ties up about six months of burn rate. It shortens the economic life of ISM by about six months. Or, in other words, it brings ISM six months closer to the point that they have to raise funds by selling something.

I believe management has done an excellent job of obtaining, at the right time, the equity financing needed to get ISM through the economic mess that the world has come through. It looks like overall they have done a good job of investing the available capital, have obtained good returns and really extended the timeframe.

I don't have any problem with ISM investing in the Canadian financial institutions. I think those share prices were overly depressed due to proximity to the mess in the US and not due to any real problems with those institutions.

This loan doesn't fit with everything management has done. It risks too much, too late in the game. ISM may very well need those six months to get to the swing in the nickel market that makes it a seller's market instead of a buyer's market.

Wild