Edgy, your post is wonderful. I think we have all asked your questions over and over. And, I guess we will continue to ask these questions over and over.

"Please feel free to criticise. I could use the input".

1. All you say is our frustration with this stock, the set-up and unbelievable holding it like a strong current that one can't get through without an effort that is almost too much. This happened to a friend of mine snorkling off of Palm Beach. He came up from the deep to find his boat was gone!!! He had to swim with the current all the way to Jupiter, edging himself closer and closer to shore. He wasn't sure that he would make it. He did.

2. Vale, Xstrata, Unions. We opened the door for these people. And it looks like they are tougher than the Unions. Surprise. I ask you, why could the government not have dealt a little more effectively with the electricity issues? I don't know why. Tax revenue will be lost as a result. And, the Unions look like they won't eat crow or back down. But, Xstrata will continue to do business for less in Quebec. Why not? When I was a child, my father who worked for the CN went on strike for many many weeks, and the settlement was a pittance. I remember my father whitefaced at the prospect of the reality of what that meant for us in lost income. My mother went to work at that time. A nono in those times, and an actual embarassment for my father and somehow for me, a child.

3.The Natives. Inexplicably, I have no answer. I romanticize too much. Like it or lump it, it seems to be what we live with these days. Lets hope we can make the best of it for all concerned. Period.

4. Environmental Issues. Yes. Let us have as few as possible. Lets hope we develop fair regulations that protects our environment, habitat, and people and recognizes that mining development can still be very profitable and an actual enhancer for all. The sad thing is that while I like David Suzuki, somehow some with big clout seem to be way off base. It seems they will never be satisfied. Such is a strong need for a "cause". No matter how ill-guided it becomes.

5. No comment. Except, somehow I feel that no matter how bad it gets messed up, somehow it will all come together, precisely the way it should, which may not be to our liking or maybe to our liking. It won't matter.

You have nailed it to a T. I of all of us should not be addressing your post. But, this simple child on the board wants to remind us all that in the end, NOT is a stock symbol that we gamble about in the stock market and the variety of players are as varied as flowers, or trees, or birds, or animals. We take into consideration all the angles and we play according to my own needs, known or unknown. No right. No wrong. Breath in, breath out.

vermillion.