I'm starting to feel a bit of an unwinding, a bit of a backing down from the high alert of past weeks. This is good, but it also permits the opportunity to reflect on what has come to pass.
In the face of the blatant opportunism exhibited by Rosseau et al, I think we have come together in an amazing amalgamation. I think we were completely underestimated. I've heard it said that Rosseau may not have had a choice, given the global economic upheaval, except to push for this dissident management takeover process. They probably thought they had it in the bag, or at least, a probable success. But they didn't account for our personal response to Noront management. Richard and his team are more than merely competent. They have integrity. And integrity breeds faith.
I well recall many posts, some months ago, that enthused about the experts that Richard was able to draw towards him. I wondered, sometimes, just how he could have managed to do so. But they too must have responded to his integrity, with their own faith.
And all this faith empowered us. I never could have imagined that Noront shareholders themselves would have taken on the task of contacting each and every retail shareholder, to ensure that they fully understood the importance of exercising their rights to vote. Perhaps it's a lucky confluence of timing that it was even possible to do so. Could you imagine how difficult it might have been, even a few years ago, in the era of Canada Post and operator-assisted directory assistance? It simply would not have been possible.
And yet, despite the fact that it didn't even occur to me that it was possible to do so, even now, Glorieux and his team pulled it off. I feel a sense of permanent indebtedness to you, Frank, no matter what the outcome of this vote might be. And to all the Agoracom members who volunteered their time, their resources, and their commitment to doing what was right and honourable, I am in your debt.
Each of us, in our own way, contributed what we had to contribute, even if it was only a green thumb up for a post that inspired us to push forward. To you all, I also owe a debt.
On Tuesday, we will get our answer. I truly feel that we will prevail! But, let us not be complacent. This is but the first skirmish in a war for control of a very, very valuable asset. If Frank's recent post is correct, no less than six large corporations are trying to establish a financial relationship with Noront. This virtually assures that we will not be low-balled. What the future holds, I don't know, but it isn't over. Not by a long shot.
My pride, my pride in all of us, will not be diminished if the vote goes the other way. As my title suggests, we have fought the good fight. Perhaps, we have fought a precedent-setting fight, but only time will tell the tale.
The value embodied in our shares is in the ground in the James Bay Lowlands. Those mineral resources will be mined. And we own them. Perhaps, the net value we realize might be less than we imagined, depending on how (and by whom) the deposits are developed, but we already know with certainty that the ROF will become Canada's next mining success story. And we have earned our place in history. We Agoracom members have earned our place in the history of the Ring of Fire.
GLTA,
Lar
