In my opinion...
"1. Does anyone think the October 31st deadline was orchestrated in regard to possible new claims fees due in the beginning of November?"
Not me!
"2. What's up with the selling pressure with this news release"
This is another non-event in this sector. The sector is at a very low point in it's business cycle, and this was just not the sort of news that would move it, even if the indices for the major gold procucers is slightly up today.
Neighbor TMBXF in Arizona is up today on no news. Does that make sense? No, but this market sector often does not make sense, especially in recent years. Let's see what happens with significant news coming soon, I think.
VP