SAG offers a reasonable explanation. I offer this for your consideration.

I have parachuted into senior management positions three times in my professional career and I hate it. There is the constant reference to the "New Broom" and the "Good Old Days". People refuse to change without debate, resistance or coercion, and there is never enough free time to wash the bad taste out of your mouth.

In each of these cases I had the blessing at the topmost level of authority, in my case the CEO and the VP's and those were the guys that made my life bearable until moral rebuilt and we had some "NEW" achievements to hang our company pride on.

Now think of Noront.

1) All progress and discovery was engineered by the past-past CEO and nothing good is happening now. (Windfall was a bust, we can’t get assays and apparently we can’t define our resources) (Rudderless ship in turbulent seas – No sense of direction, vision or purpose to inherit)

2) The previous senior management of NOT turned their backs on Nemis during the proxy battle. (Desertion of Peers)

2) Even though retail won with the numbers, the predators accepted Nemis' solution to move on even though the majority of share votes were in favor of his leadership. (Arrogant BoD)

3) The majority of shareholders dislike nearly all aspects of Noront's present growth strategy and blame the co-CEO's for SP performance. (Open and Public Criticism)

4) The Co-CEO's are not respected by the majority of their shareholders and we are consistently questioning their ethics and lack of transparency. (Shareholder Mutiny)

5) The co-CEO's are amassing future wealth in options and are perhaps assuring themselves even more as a condition of employment for the future CEO. (This one is way out there, I’m sorry but what the heck ... it could be happening) Regardless, the suspicion is there for self serving greed vs. corporate governance . Not a corporate vision that I could endorse.

My point is "who would want the job? Prospective candidates are not all driven by $$$$$$$$$. Some would like the opportunity to lead and not follow the hidden agenda of their puppet masters. These are risk adverse and austere times. Who wants to enter a role where the past players were judged and/or hated? … and EVERYONE WANTS A REPLACEMENT and a quick turnaround of the company’s fortunes

I recognize that I am the least qualified of all, to think this way ... but I wouldn’t touch the job with a ten foot pole for a million bucks.

(Well maybe a million bucks, but then again you guys would bust me with the bar tab right away)

Geez, FWR sure looks good now doesn’t it.

(At least I can’t get busted for saying that now!)

Aafab