George,
Sorry for the late reply. First off thanks for being so candid and not treading lightly on the relationship issues that arose in the weeks and months leading up to and following the proxy battle. It is good to see someone take off the gloves every once in awhile and I am sure you had the support of all regulars on here for the words that you spoke.
Having been one of the lot of instigators who were demanding more communication between Noront and shareholders in the months between June and August 2007, I can truly say that Noront's story would not have been as widely disseminated if it were not for the Agoracom IR vehicle. Outside of sh*thouse and the bashers who constantly bashed Noront since the Windfall bonanza find in December 2006, there were very few news outlets covering the Noront story.
I believe the accurate and reputable reporting and information sharing that took place with this portal provided existing and prospective investors with an information source that was second to none. So much so that your growth has expanded to many other companies since the deal with Noront was first struck. The credibility and responsiveness of you and your team has been a benefit to everyone who does not have an insider at companies willing to return their calls. A benefit that many institutions receive due to their ability to raise large amounts of capital.
You are correct in stating that a blackout of information has essentially taken effect as very little effort has been made to keep shareholders up to date since the proxy battle. The lack of any information on Windfall is an example where the "materiality of information" excuse has been used, though it can be shown that this violates even the TSX Ventures own disclosure regulations based on the requirements they have set for exploration companies.
Though Richard Nemis may have not been perfect, he at least walked in shoes that did not smell of farm animal excrements. Since the proxy battle the stench of the intentions of the new BOD breaks any silence that they may be desiring to achieve. There are just too many of those 78,000 investors around with much longer histories with Noront to let any possible action that is not in the best interests of ALL shareholders work to the detriment of those who have supported this company long before they arrived.
There termination of their deal with Agoracom as well as their lack of disclosure with past, current, and planned developments only serves to strengthen any regulatory or criminal investigations that may need to take place should shareholder rights not be fully protected by those in decision making power at Noront headquarters.
Thank you for providing an excellent web presence for investors to discuss and moderate discussion concerning many of our investments. Though Noront is no longer a sponsored blog on this site, I know that many other excellent companies are continuing their relationships with you in providing the investors with excellent information.
M1.
