Noront Resources

If I read your post correctly, you are saying a gross revenue value of refined nickel in excess of $5 billion per year for 20 years (in today price levels) would be realistic for a greenfields development. That seems like a reasonable target given the massive front end investment, albeit that can be minimized with an optimum mine development plan. Not all of that resource needs to be in hand for a major in a highly prospective area. What we should realize is that larger development and longer time is the most likely progression for a promising but expensive new area. The majors might get motivated once the potential for a large scale multi-mineral development combines with some greater certainty in economic conditions and a determination these assets can be in the lower quartiles for all-in industry production costs. Regardless, the CLF/FWR deal tells me that there is a 90% probability that a much larger development will materialize, but further down the road than most have expected. Successful drilling is the one factor that can shorten the timeframe directly .