I know one of my main concerns right now is whether or not we have enough cash in till to get this project rolling and whether or not, when the time comes, we can raise more funds at a reasonable price. Looks like the majors understand this issue and will be ready to start inking some deals with solid junior companies. Its probably going to be tough to secure $100 billion to do a mining mega buyout but I would suspect that $10 billion to $15 billion wouldn't be out of the picture, heck, Teck just arranged $9+ billion to buy Fording in a brutal credit market. Could Xstrata or Vale or even RIO be ready to make a deal since they still have loads of cash on the books?

I hope the rumours about another nickel hit are true since RIO's looking to buy some!!

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Junior mining companies are having a hard time raising
financing but that will provide companies such as Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) with an
opportunity to buy, Bret Clayton, chief executive of copper at Rio Tinto said
Wednesday.
"We are scouring opportunities and looking at several," Clayton said. "There
are a lot of exciting opportunities out there that we are looking at."
Clayton said the company is speaking with some of the juniors that it is
interested in.
Some areas of interest are uranium and nickel, Clayton said.
"We are looking to expand current (uranium) operations that we have,"
Clayton said, citing the company's interest in getting involved with the
global climate change initiatives.
Nickel is also a "good business to invest in," Clayton said, adding that Rio
Tinto is interested in developing that part of the company's assets.