Never say never. All is possible except that some things have very slim chances of occuring.

I say that the Cliffs take over of Freewest is not a sure thing, it is just most likely to happen.

I also say that it is not in the best interest for Noront to vote with the Cliffs takeover.
With a rejection of the offer Freewest share price would plummet ( Perhaps the fear of that causes many to vote for instead of against, short term thinking, imo. ) However with a rejection Freewest could and should join up with Noront and any other chromite holder and offer all the chromite in the ring to any prospective buyer. By this means all the chromite holders would get maximum return for the assets and any major would be confident of a safe ( competition free ) chromite source with most efficient production for decades.

The way it looks now is that it suits the big caps to aquire the resources in pieces at paltry prices.