Fun reading while we wait.

good post Aurony

"June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Xstrata Plc, the world’s largest thermal coal exporter, shelved spending on projects worth A$6.6 billion ($5.6 billion) in Australia, intensifying pressure on the government to wind back its proposed tax on mine profits."

http://agoracom.com/ir/Noront/forums/discussion/topics/422620-bloomberg/messages/1387151#message

also

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page31?oid=105743&sn=Detail&pid=31

xstrata, bhp, and rio can focus on Canada while Aussies sort things out. Plenty of Iron at Magpie. http://www.fancampexplorationltd.ca/FNC_Magpie.html

The stars are aligning if Smith and Pat care to act now. Even US could heat up.

"Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau offered to pay up to $1.7 billion to take full ownership of its North American unit, looking to reduce borrowing costs and increase efficiency...They are moving forward ... because they foresee a solid economic recovery in the United States that the market doesn't," said Marcos Assumpcao, an analyst with Itau Securities in Sao Paulo. He said a fair premium for the Ameristeel shares would be 20 percent to 30 percent...This is obviously positive because North America has large idle capacity that needs to be put in operation, while the group needs to supply Brazil with more long steel," he said."

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page39?oid=105749&sn=Detail&pid=39

This is the time to act while the iron is hot.

"South Korea's POSCO (005490.KS) said on Tuesday U.S. investor Warren Buffett, whose investment vehicle owns 4.5 percent of the world's No.4 steelmaker, had indicated he wanted to buy more POSCO stocks."

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page67?oid=96128&sn=Detail

If Groome is the gatekeeper to Korea, is there gatekeeper to xstrata, bhp, and rio? Is Magpie even on their radar? Who do we need to talk to? Who can open up China for us?

"The China Development Bank has offered to loan the Bolivian government $15 billion to develop its half of the world's largest iron ore deposit El Cerro Mutun, estimated to contain 40 billion tonnes of iron and 10 billion tonnes of magnesium."

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page39?oid=105501&sn=Detail

How about India?

Of all the execs at Posco, which one is Smith talking to?

http://people.forbes.com/search?name=&ticker=PKX

I have hobbies. It's difficult to maintain momentum when dealing with family and work. It seems completion may never come. But, my hobby doesn't have other people's investment depending on my maintaining momentum. Is Smith aware that the perception of him is that he treats FNC like a hobby?

To be fair, is there anything he could do to alter that perception? Is there a degree of professionalism that is not perceived in his news releases and their timing? Have any ROF CEO's done anything different from Smith? Wes and Mac attracted enough cash to pepper their land with holes. What do they do that Smith doesn't do? Does perceived professionalism just come down to Nickel and Chromite? You've found some or you haven't. You can be taken seriously or you are just dabbling for fun.

: a superficial or intermittent interest, investigation, or experiment <his dabblings in philosophy and art>

John Pugsley's Stealth Investor...

"I'm looking for raw resources in the ground. I'm not looking at any one sector like gold, industrial metals, oil and gas or water. I'm trying to find companies that are searching for or developing all types of natural resources. Whether it's gold, water, or phosphate doesn't really make much difference in my eyes. It's a question of how necessary is the commodity, how good is the management, what properties do they own, and how cheap the stock is."
http://www.metalsnews.com/Metals+News/MetalsNews/Al+Alper/EXPERT155884/John+Pugsley+Playing+the+Niche.htm

Could you imagine smith ever saying the followng in an interview?

“We’re great at identifying good opportunities, exploring them efficiently and rapidly, and building resource bases for the 3 metals we’re focused on – gold, silver, and copper.” After they perform the exploratory work, there is still much work to be done to bring the projects to production, but Mr. Van Nieuwenhuyse told us: “We partner with other companies...It’s a pretty simple business model,” said Van Nieuwenhuyse. “We’re really busy when we’re exploring but once we get it going, you hire the right team for the operating company and it manages itself...Mr. Van Nieuwenhuyse is confident that the delay won’t dampen the opportunity: “I’m very bullish on metals. I think we’re in a long-term bull market for metals, largely being driven by China, India, and Southeast Asia. There are about 3 billion people entering the middle class and they are consuming a huge amount of metals as a result of the industrialization and urbanization of those places. This is not going away in a year or two.”

http://www.metalsnews.com/Metals+News/MetalsNews/Allen+M.+Alper+and+Aaron+Hoos/FEATURED137183/Gold+Silver+and+Copper+NovaGold+Resources+Inc+Growing+with+Strategic+Alliances.htm

By the way I recall Mr. Van Nieuwenhuyse shaking hands with Voisen at Hard Assets. When I was introduced I felt like I was trying to catch a train to Wales. I couldn't even think the word I'm reading.

Other Magpie related news

Kermas to apply for Magnetite mining licence in South Africa. UK-based investment holding company Kermas Limited planned to submit an application to convert its prospecting permit for the Stoffberg magnetite project, which it owned in joint venture with multi-commodity mining company Petmin, into a mining licence soon, its chairperson Dr Danko Konchar told Mining Weekly Online on Wednesday. Last week, Korean firm Dongbu Steel informed its shareholders that it and South Korean State-owned mining company KORES had signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 1,2-million ton a year pig iron project in South Africa by 2013

http://www.metalsnews.com/Metals+News/MiningWeekly/Mining+Weekly/HEADLINE176169/Kermas+to+apply+for+magnetite+mining+licence+in+South+Africa.htm

Stan Bharti at the San Francisco Hard Assets Investment Conference

He is surrounded by some of his exhibiting companies: Alexis Minerals, Avion Gold, Crocodile Gold, Sulliden and Crowflight. He believes in finding the best people to run his companies. He guides CEOs and Presidents but encourages them to run their businesses on their own and do their own thing. He doesn’t waste time on long formal meetings but is more spontaneous in his approach. His group has a strong comradery. Stan encourages all of his people to have fun while working, to have excellent results, to be successful and reap large financial rewards. He is a family man who has encouraged his three sons to work with him. He also feels a duty to give back to society and founded a charitable foundation dedicated to help humanity, wildlife and the environment.

Stan and his company Forbes & Manhattan, Inc. a Toronto-based private merchant bank and resource powerhouse were able to take advantage of the stock market sell off last year to strengthen their portfolio of companies. An authority in the global mining industry, F & M understands matters of international finance. They pinpoint assets of the highest caliber and take them from exploration and discovery to production. Forbes & Manhattan President and CEO Stan Bharti is Responsible for this unique vision. In a recent Leader’s Spotlight interview with MetalsNews, Bharti gave us insight into his very successful process for growing wealth through growing businesses.

Iron ore production is slated to commence the first quarter of next year at Consolidated Thompson. Here, Forbes has taken a $1 million market cap and expanded that figure to more than $1 billion, making that a 4,500% return in slightly more than four years time. In a tactical collaboration with Chinese super-giant Wuhan Iron & Steel Co., Forbes has amassed more than $800 million in equity."

http://www.metalsnews.com/spotlight.aspx?ArticleID=71400

-stockgreed