Another mining company could not directly stop NOT from developing this mine. As long at NOT goes through the processes and gets funding, all the power to them to get started.

What mine owners typically do is hire a mine contractor to develop the initial aspects of the mine for them. There are a number of companies in Canada which could complete this work for NOT. These contractors would work for a number of mine owners.

In fact, this is about the perfect time to hire a contractor to get this work started. The industry is slow, so there is a lot of manpower and equipment looking for work. This means that NOT could potentially negotiate some lower than normal prices.