Kidd creek is an anomoly. Drilling was done from the bottom of a huge open pit, justifying further development at depth. And the effort required to accomplish what they did would suggest they wouldn't do it again.

Another example is Goldcorp in Red Lake. The mine had almost run it course until drilling from lower depths proved the real gold was further down. I think they are at something like 7500' now.

But the logistics are humongous. I don't know how many here have actually been down to those depths (I have seen 4200', and that was 50 years ago). The effort required to lift ore, supply fresh air, and just withstand the environment, is all consuming.

However, it is pointless to speculate. Noront has spent half of it's drilling budget over the last few years, trying to find something at depth, and it has been wasted dollars. At some point in the future, when we have an operating mine working at 3000', a decision will be made to drill further, or spend the same dollars drilling further afield. In the meantime, any hope of further value added by depth simply does not exist.

Best regards

K