Good Morning Folks:
Yesterday there was some consideration on this forum of placing a full page ad in an international paper to find our lost retail investors and get them to vote their proxies for Mr. Nemis and the current Board of Directors. In support of this objective I contacted several papers, FP, WSJ, G&M etc. I published the costs of this campaign yesterday and the support from the AG community was not overwhelming, so without ranting or begging for your support, I concluded that we could not take this hugely expensive route to advertising our objectives.
I am typing this off-line so I cannot access the names of those who responded with encouraging posts or sent me PM’s but I sincerely thank you. One member of our community has successfully created a Google campaign that has cost him about $5,000 to date. I will be contacting him later today to offer my $100.00 contribution to his expense. Those that thought the $100 / head advertising cost was fair might consider this as well. He has done a hell of a job on our behalf and at his personal expense.
So, this morning the advertising guy from the Globe and Mail sent me a follow-up e-mail asking if I was going forward with this ad. I responded as follows:
Thank you for your follow-up. Unfortunately, over the past 16 hours or so I/we have come to the conclusion that we cannot afford this media. I am not complaining about your advertising rates, they appear to be fair and equitable in consideration of alternate choices. Please allow me to expand on my/our objectives in considering taking a full page advertisement in your paper.
I inquired of the cost of your services in support of a retail investor campaign on Agoracom.com to save a Canadian Company from the unwanted internal takeover by a Hedge Fund. Noront Resources was voted the #1 Mining and Exploration Company on the TSXV in 2007. They and other associated players are proving up the most spectacular mining play currently breaking out in Canada known as the Ring-of-Fire in the James Bay Lowlands. This deposit is profoundly huge and contains not only typical Nickel, Platinum Group Metals, Copper, Gold & Zinc deposits, but also it has confirmed (without a 43-101 yet … they cannot find the end of the deposit !!!) perhaps the highest grade and largest deposit of Chromium in the world. (Chromium is a major and essential ingredient in Stainless Steel that does not trade like a commodity due to its rarity and grade parameters) The exploration company that is the leader in this area is Noront Resources, and all other players in the area revolve around Noront’s success. The retail investors of Noront are currently mounting a rebellion to fight off an unwanted takeover by a Hedge Fund investment house. The Hedge fund is a voting shareholder holding approx 9.2% of outstanding shares and they published that they speak for about 30% of the total shares outstanding. With this strength they have launched a proxy campaign to remove the existing accredited Board of Directors and CEO and replace them with their own. There is little doubt that this hedge fund is struggling in the current market and this death throw is designed to parcel off or sell out Noront to a major suitor at a small profit given the current undervalued share price.
The relationships that Noront has nurtured with the associated players in the Ring of Fire, the Ontario and Canadian governments, the aboriginal peoples in the area and their retail investors is at stake. This network, although currently effective and operational, will very likely disintegrate with the success of this proxy takeover. The retail investor community on Agoracom.com has mounted a campaign to get all retail investors to vote for the current Board and CEO prior to October 23rd.
This is a David and Goliath story. It is a rebellion against all that is wrong with our investment industry (naked short selling etc.) It is a story of faith in Richard Nemis as the CEO of Noront and the genius that he has assembled in the current Board. We little people do not have the power or organization of a Hedge Fund, a Mutual Fund or an Institutional Investor and we need every gram of help we can get. We were considering launching a print advertisement campaign in support of our objectives, but we cannot assemble the finances and copy required to place this ad in the short time we have prior to the end of voting on 10/23, but perhaps your paper can help us, if you would consider forwarding this e-mail to your business reporters.
If they were to perceive the virtue and the plight of the little guy as wholesome and right, we could use your help. This is a classic case of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE.
I therefore respectfully seek your support.
Kindest Regards
AafabVentures
Free World Investor
