If you have been watching Cliffs stock recently you will have noticed a major down trend following their BOD and shareholder meeting. A number of the large hedgefunds have made it known that they are not happy campers with tying up billions of capital in a remote area of Northern Ontario. They've shown their concern by taking their money out. What this means for Cliffs BOD is continued pressure to re-evaluate their position.

The speculation comes in when you consider that should the SP of Cliffs continue to deteriorate they become a takeover target. There is already speculation that Cliffs have already started to shop around their investment in the ROF. There are only a few majors who would be interested in this, Vale, Xstrata possibly Glencore.

It's my opinion that the key to any decision would become the smelter, we know that Vale and Xstrata already have underperforming smelters in the Sudbury Region and with a few hundred mill they could expand these facilities to handle the ROF. We also know that Vale and Xstrata have had decades of dealing with various Ontario Governments and the FN and for the most part have a good relationship with them. Should this happen it would be a bonus for McGuinty as he would be dealing with majors with very deep pockets.

However should any company move to acquire Cliffs ROF properties, they wont stop there. They would want to take out all the junior players in the area and that includes NOT.

At what price would NOT sell out, thats anybody's guess but if you think this BOD haven't already discussed a price then there's swamp land in Florida for sale. As small retail investors we can only hope the big players hold out for major $$ but since when have any of them ever given a damn about retail. The only hope we have is that the BOD and large shareholders are want ever dollar they can squeeze for the holdings.

IMHO
Joe