For those of you still feeling a little unsure and who may pounce at an offer of $0.25 (or something similarly unsubstantial)), here is an excerpt (in its entirety...unedited) from a Forbes article dated December 1, 2009 that puts things into context:

By jumping in to take control of these reserves from thinly capitalized exploratory miners, Cliffs is following a time-honored tradition in Canada. Forbes 400 billionaire Robert Friedland, after suffering defeat in the U.S. gold-mining business, journeyed to Canada in search of diamonds and at Voisey's Bay stumbled across one of the richest nickel deposits instead. He sold it to Inco for $3.1 billion in 1996.

Earlier in the decade, a Northwest Territories pasture surged to a value of $1 billion after Dia Met Minerals, then a 20-cent stock, discovered diamonds. It sold out to Rio Tinto ( RTP -news - people ) for $430 million in 2001.

Cliffs says it expects to begin producing 1 million to 2 million tons of high-grade chromite from its Ontario mines by 2015, assuming it can overcome the rival takeover offer from pipsqueak Noront. Cliffs also owns a 15% stake in KWG.

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