Old Joe, thank you for reply. In all sincerity, I do not understand your answer. I must be missing something. I can understand why it would be in PRB's interest to postpone drilling at MW if they are negotiationg a JV. Do you think they may be working on a JV with NOT? If that is the case, then I completely understand the reasoning for postponement at MW and drilling another project (Victory) instead and have no further questions.

If however, they are working on an outright sale of PRB's MW holdings to NOT (which may be the case as the NR can be seen two different ways), then I just dont see a reason for delay in PRB's drilling at MW .

Am I making sense? (Probably not but I am trying to explain where I'm coming from. Please bear with me as I am not a guru in this arena.) It was my understanding that drilling at MW would have taken 2-3 weeks. Victory would have been next, (or Tamarack). A 3 weeks delay to drill anothe project wouldnt have caused any problem in keeping PRB busy with other projects would be my take on things.

I have read your posts often and respect your opinions. But I just didnt understand your response which was:

Very simple!!!!!!! Before signing off on a deal be sure you have other viable projects to keep you busy after doing the expected and likely eventual deal!"

Again, if a JV is the outcome, then I completely understand. If a sale is in mind, why would PRB want to sell without knowing fully what they have ASAP, before the sale.

But regardless of if I understand things or not, your speculation on any potential outcome of the negoitaions would be a fascinating read. JV, sale, something else? If you care to share, I would be very interested in reading it.

Thanks,

profitz