third-party

Definition - Someone who may be indirectly involved but is not a principal party to an arrangement, contract, deal, lawsuit, or transaction.

By this definition I would interpret the principal parties are Noront and Freewest (based on Noront's original offer) and even though Cliffs would be indirectly involved, as a shareholder of Freewest, they could still be considered a third party in regards to the Confidentiality and Exclusivity Agreement announced by Freewest.

SRV