Noront Resources

Hi All,

I see that we have some rumours coming around and the occasional spat. Boys will be boys. Just remember to value each other more highly than your egos and things have a way to work themselves out.

Rumours about Richard Nemis have been around since DE first broke. Not getting rid of Richard mind you but the splitting of Noront into two companies, one focussed on McFaulds and the other on Windfall and the other developing companies.

It should be noted that a whoever owns 10% of the shares cannot just go and dump the president. While 10% ownership must be publicly stated, that is more for "takeover" potential than anything else. I believe a majority of stakeholders would need to vote for a management change and I doubt this would happen given Richard's track record and recent hirings filling in the gaps that existed last September.

The discussion on the board last year about splitting up the company had more to do with ensuring that a takeover did not steal Windfall along with an adequate price for McFaulds. We have yet to establish a resource estimate for Windfall but it can by anywhere from "lucky pod" to "monster bonanza". The grades are there - up to 1800 ounces per tonne over 16 feet - but the volume is unknown at this time. That is what makes it a favorite amoung shareholders. The chance of hitting the big one.

This is no longer the Nemis and Harvey show. They have brought in some quality people to help shore up what must be an incredible amount of work required lately. Put yourselves in their shoes over the past 12 months and ask yourself if you could handle the stress. Of keeping on top of assays, drilling developments, supplies, payroll, shareholder inquiries, press releases, constant meetings, publishing MD&As, looking for new talent, establishing a plethora of joint ventures and the like. The man has probably wished at times it could have gone a lot slower. The expectations based on grades is very high and I am sure the work is enourmous.

All that being said, I have followed this company pre-Windfall and know that there may be an advantage to splitting up McFaulds into a subsiderary that could be sold off. This has to due with the following:

1) Richard and Novak are getting up in age. Not that there ages mean they cannot function, but do they have the stamina to keep up the effort into year two and three and beyond? Before I get bashed for being anti-senior, let me first say that I play tennis on occasion with a few gentlemen aged 78 and 84. They sometimes put a whooping on us in our 40s. Though one is a national champion he makes up for lack of speed with excellent shot placement and experience.

Bring this back to Noront. These men have amazing experience. But do they have the stamina? An 80 year old may beat me over one set, but over three or five sets it is a different story. There heart is there but their body cannot keep up. With Richard and John in their 70s, they are both reaching the twilights of their careers while McFaulds is a child that has just been birthed and has a long future before it. Any 70 year old men out there with two year old kids? Not the same as being 40 or 50.

I know the correlation between taking care of kids at an older age and running a business is not accurate as we have many older CEOs in Canada but the analogy still has a point. Running Noront is not a desk job. It means getting out into the fields, jet setting to different sites and meeting investors, working the late hours, working the phones and interviews, and getting ones hands dirty. Things I know Richard loves but for how much longer?

2) Richard is overloaded. How can I tell? Some of the trusted posters on here who talk to Richard have stated that he has not had updates from Burnt Hill. As our third major property, how can a President not receive updates and issue the occasional NR? Only if his time is 100% focussed on Windfall and McFaulds.

But we have a lot of other properties. Land in Mexico (currently in legal dispute), Mongolia, and other part of Ontario. All paid for and needing attention at some point. Noront is first and foremost an exploration company. I believe the major investors want this to fast track into a production company or be sold off for a profit. It takes a lot of effort and experience to do that. While IBK and JP may be assisting on some fronts, and while we have some excellent new hires in the geos, it may not be enough. To split the company and have a CEO focus on one half (the exploration and Windfall) and a subsiderary CEO focus on the other (McFaulds) may not be a bad thing.

This is not a Richard bash. I am one of his biggest fans as many of you know. But at some point these questions will be asked by those with big money. What is the succession plan long term when it comes to these gray haired old codgers? At what point do they say "enough, I want a break from all this and want to scale back in order to enjoy fishing again?" Are they there now?

Not a rumour. Just thinking that I am sure many have. Hopefully this will be addressed at the AGM.

Enjoy the weekend all!

M1.