JohnEStromJr,

I have never brought a mine into production however my better half and I did completely gut a kitchen and then rebuilt it from scratch - by the end it looked amazing (read stainless steel appliances, very generous counter space, loads of storage, etc.) ... there were three major lessons learned in the rebuilding process:

1./ budget much higher then initially anticipated as initially forecasted as things change/plans change - building (or in this case re-building) things isn't a linear process.

2./ timeline also was out by a factor of 3 due to unexpected glitches surfacing (read old 'character' home that was a wiring headache and had many many other 'character flaws').

3./ much patience was needed due to all the delays.

In terms of the MOU not quite sure what working with the first nations population close to your neck of the woods is like but it was explained to me by a gentleman who worked for one of the Majors where his role was to facilitate the harmonious relationships between the mine and 4 different first nations bands - his take was that different memorandums of understanding type agreements/various contracts being put on the table is that it takes much time (way longer then Corporate America type thinking) to put together due to the multi layered aspects of the various financial, cultural and land issues that inevitable).

As for full production gauge I am *very* interested in when pre-production will start - as this imo will be a good gauge for the time frame of full production. I wouldn't be surprised if full production happened in January of 2009 as little glitches do happen - and at times mother nature really does have a mindset all her own - and things come up which are totally unexpected (ya like the electrical nightmare that we faced when gutting the kitchen - what a nightmare to say the least which took a very long time to figure out yikes).

Once pre-production is reached I am gathering that daily output (not quite sure if this is the correct mining term) from McWatters will be roughly 450 tpd + 200 tpd from Redstone = 650 tpd which is tripling current production rates :) This is why I think that Q3 numbers (once pre-production rates are in effect) will be better then Q2 and then Q4 will be better then Q3 and then Q1/09 will be even better yet - actually I am hoping that by Q1/09 both the daily tpd and the revenue will grow exponentially).

As for Xstrata taking over LBE - is it possible - perhaps ... is it probable - at this point in time I highly doubt it but this is just my take on things. But heck once LBE is at full production - give me $10/share and Bob's Your Uncle :)

I see the recent two NR's of the two former Xstrata employees as a very good leading indicator of good things to come as here we have two seasoned employees each have 20+ years experience who both have their P.Eng (Professional Engineer status in the Province of Ontario) who have joined the LBE team - this to me speaks volumes as it tells me that perhaps these two gents will help to take LBE to a mid-tier level.

All the best,

-B1-