In a good movie, the screenwriter puts the protagonist's feet to the fire, and see's how the protagonist reacts. Most often you get a hero; sometimes, a wimp.

If you have seen the movie Die Hard, you know that the screenwriter puts McClane's feet to the fire (McClane is a cop and the protagonist). In a sense he's ambushed by the bad guy, Hans Gruber, who takes over a building at Christmas time in order to steal 600 million dollars in blank bearer bonds. Alas, McClane's wife is inside the building and at a company party. Not only does Gruber want to steal the money, he wants to blow up the whole building. When the building company's CEO is shot in the forehead while McClane is watching from underneath a table, McClane's feet are put to the fire. How can he save his wife?

Who's the protagonist at the ROF with Cliffs hostile takeover bid? Clearly we have co-protagonists. Smeenk and Novak. Do they have a gun pointed at their foreheads? In a figurative sense, yes. Cliffs want to buy their companies for 13 cents a share. How will they react?

Well, we have part of the story already. Using screenwriter's terminology, we have seen the "inciting incident". Generally in the first 15 minutes of a 90 minute movie. So where does the story go from here?

Some background on Smeenk and Novak. Sometime in the 1990's these guys got together because they both thought kimberlite pipes might be found up on the James Bay Lowlands (JBL). Smeenk is a smart lawyer; Novak, a smart geologist. They indeed did find kimberlite, and the Victor Mine is the result. However, they had a disagreement on how to proceed with future exploration. So in 2002, or thereabouts, they put together an agreement whereby Smeenk would focus on diamond exploration, and Novak would look for other minerals. In their agreement, however, they were joined at the hip (in a legal fashion). What Smeenk found, Novak got 50%; what Novak found, Smeenk got 50%. That's basically the way it is today up on the ROF.

Novak ended up helping Richard Nemis (formally of Noront Resources) and John Harvey find nickel and other good stuff at Eagle One. Smeenk continued his exploration for diamonds. They also ended up working with Mac Watson by getting together in a JV (the Freewest Option) as well as Jim Voisin (UC Resources) with MacFaulds East and West.

To everyone's surprise, chromite was found by Novak (and then Watson) while hunting for more nickel (you can throw in some PGEs too). Few of these geologists knew much about chromite. So eventually Novak (SPQ was the operator at the Option at this time) brought in MICON corp to do a 43-101 (Novak knew that chromite was a strategic mineral). Lo and behold, Novak and his colleagues had found the motherlode of chromite in North America with grades over 40%. It's so good, it's "direct ship" quality.

However, during this time (post 2008) Smeenk decided to partner with Cliffs. Or maybe it was just a simple investment? Of course, you now know what now has happened. (The co-protagonist reaction.) Smeenk's feet, and Novak's feet have become rather toasty with Cliffs' bid for both SPQ and KWG.

It is my opinion that the whole of the ROF (including Noront, Fancamp, Probe, and UC Resources) have a vested interest in the final 75 minutes of this drama. The media has portrayed Cliffs as pursuing a very typical US mining giant approach to a takeover. (If I was Jim Voisin or Peter Smith, I would be more than concerned.)

The reaction of our co-protagonists has more than a tinge of irony. The two guys who agreed to disagree in 2002 have agreed to agree in 2010. A merger. A merger of equals. The "Davids" have agreed to fight the Goliath. A drama, perhaps, of biblical proportions.

Neil Novak recently (in the context of the Spider Resources recent AGM) said, "We are not idiots." I think the quote applies also to the co-protagonist reaction to Cliffs "hostile" bid for both SPQ and KWG.

Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire said "Show me the money". I think the co-protagonists are saying the same thing on behalf of their shareholders. So their reaction shows their smarts. It's all about the money. Cliffs also knows that too. But they want the world class chromite at Big Daddy really cheap.

(I thought I might look for movie quote from JD on this matter, but all I could find were horror movies. You, too, can find them on Stockhouse.)

The other thing about a good movie is "the timing". The mid-point of Die Hard is when McClane throws one of Hans Gruber's men out of the office building onto a police car. Superb timing. The police know that it's not a crank calling them in the building, and that there's a big, big problem.

So what do you think of Cliffs' timing in this drama. Good? Bad?

I guess time will tell (no pun intended). Everyone thinks that this Goliath is real smart. An assumption, maybe? Seems to me that the co-protagonists have crafted a very intelligent response. Only in Canada, eh?

As a shareholder, you will have a role in the outcome of this movie. A special AGM. Your feet will also be put to the fire. What will be your reaction? I think our co-protagonists have served us well to this point. Lots more to come.

Snug