Two things I thought about when I read this article:

Why does noront need to select a smelter location before doing anything with the Eagles nest? What happened to nickel first and chromite once they got their feet wet. Looks like they now want to do it all at the same time.

The fact that they are threatening to take processing out of province if need be is a push for a hydro deal. Most likely between Quebec and ontario . Then some cheap terrawatts could also be given to mushkegowuk FN for a hydro corridor and rails