Good post Don

Yes Cliffs seems to conduct business in a bullying manner.....likely don't see themselves as a "Junior" miner.

Some open communication MAY improve relations with KWG but I suspect it is more about money (as always).

To me the KWG/Cliffs differences are only a minor problem compared to the FN and the various levels of Government.

Politicians generally only do what buys them votes. Most voters live in the "Golden Horseshoe" of southern Ontario and the vast perponderance of them don't care or understand the economic significance of N. Ontario or the ROF. Politicians run the risk of losing voter support if they are seen to be spending big money on the James Bay Lowlands. So politicians pay lip service to the ROF but don't go out on a limb to move it forward.

Add to this the attitude of entitlement by the FN that the gov't and companies have to deal with and the wheels of progress grind to a hault.

Everyone seems to want to ignore the monetary economic feasibility of starting a mine and smelter. No company is going to proceed with a project in the ROF if their forcast says they can't make money. Buiding and operating a railroad costs a LOT of money. Cliffs has calculated that that cost would make their project uneconomic at the outset. Why would anyone think that Cliffs should proceed knowing this reality? If the gov't were to pick up the cost of building the RR , then that changes the economics but I don't recall hearing the gov't making this committment.

This is a game of chess by all the stakeholders. Each party is holding their cards close to their vest until someone makes the first move. If the project where south of Barrie the gov't would have made committments long ago but politically it won't buy them any votes in the south to appear anxious to invest in Northern Ontario.

The FN will fight for everything they can get and will not be the first to make a move...inspite of Bob Ray's involvement. The Companies can only afford so much and will wait to see what the gov't will commit.

The Judge chastized both Cliffs and KWG for not cooperating more. Yes this would be one less obstactle that has to be overcome. But it is not the main problem.

Here is the question. As an investor are you really interested in waiting around for all these stakeholders to come to some agreement? Even after they do, it will still be many years before the infrastructure is in place. Probably a good investment if you are under 40 and buy these stocks for your retirement in 20 years. Put the stocks in your RSP and forget about them while the parties fight it out.

Just saying

SN