Had Freewest and Noront merged their chromite assets then with one large mine constructed the north American market would have been automatically theirs. Yes I mean an arrangement would have to surface with Cliffs and other north American steel producers. Over seas markets are not a sure thing. Noront as a small and new player could be looked upon kindly and perhaps as a future aquisition.

If Cliffs aquires Freewest then the north American market will probably be also in their
pocket but they may be regarded as competitors by the others, particularly Noront, and less likely as an aquisition target. This is due to the local resource being split between two potential rivals. There is less profit and less efficiency if one fosters rivalry.
North American market is small. Competing with already existing global mines is no picnic if you still have to build yours.
I happen to think that Freewest shareholders failed to see the big picture and went for the quick and apparent profit instead of thinking it out completely towards maximum value.

Nickel is king but chromite, especially a bigger (combined ) mine, would have been a nice package to add to the Ring. ( No I am not overlooking the other metals but they are secondary for now.)