The Metal Economics Group (Halifax, N.S.) put out a paper in conjunction with PDAC 2007. I thought in preparation for the 2008 conference it might be an interesting read. (It will be interesting to read the 2008 report when it is published.) While reading it you will find it difficult not to think of Noront Resources.

Click on the 2007 Special Report:

http://www.metalseconomics.com/defau...

An excerpt from the paper reads:

"Years of stagnant and declining metals prices in the late 1990s and the resulting lack of exploration and mine development, coupled with a resurgence in worldwide industrial growth led by China and India, have driven the markets into an imbalance that is taking time to correct. While the recent sharp recovery in exploration spending has produced significant anecdotal success, the deep cuts to exploration spending from 1998 to 2002 have resulted in a decline in the rate of substantial discoveries in recent years. Although the existing pipeline includes a handful of substantial projects slated for development within the next five years, and a number of smaller projects that could be developed further out (although many of these are currently not of a size to be attractive to the majors), the lack of new large-scale projects entering the pipeline willcontinue to pressure global supply."

Snug