Thanks for some great posts lately. Monday could be an important occasion for the RoF.

Here are some random thoughts:

1. The gov't will be hard pressed to ignore the work done by KWG. Staking the claims on relatively high & dry land for the RR, the cost anaylysis showing relative cost advantages of shipping by rail vs road and development of a new and cheaper metallurgical process that reduces the need for Ontario electricity usage and rates are just a few examples of KWG initiatives that should make mining of chromite in Ontario an economically viable proposition.

2. The liberal gov't is behind in the poles and desperate to impress voters by announcing huge spending initiatives including social spending that will force Horwath to support the gov't and avoid an early election. Although the NDP criticize other parties for not advancing the RoF, they are more interested in spending taxpayer money on social programs than economic development like the RoF. However this budget proposal will be a shotgun blast of spending announcements and will include funding for anything that voters can identify with including the RoF. This weekend Horvath suggested that her support of the gov't will depend on other issues not just the budget. My guess is that there will be enough social spending in the budget that Horvath will be forced to go along with it. So no election yet.

3. Most of the Ont. gov't RoF spending initiatives in this budget will be conditional on matching spending by the federal gov't. These initiatives have likely been discussed by both parties and framework agreements reached. KWG and NOT are likely already aware of these agreements.

4. Although everyone is now aware of the economic importance of a rail line, the FN are likely more interested in having a road and electricity before the rail line is completed. Since Gravelle is from Thunder Bay and there is already a road to Pickle lake or vicinity the first road initiative is likely an E-W road. I doubt if there is room for both a road and rail line on the KWG route from the south but perhaps KWG has agreed to share the route in order to secure funding for the rail line at a later date?

5. There are currently 2 parallel rail lines from east to west but the more northern line running through Longlac is the CN line, which is partly why Cliffs chose Capreol for their smelter. This line also runs through North Bay where the ONTC is headquartered. The gov't has admitted they were wrong and are keeping the ONTC open. I suspect that part of the reason for the change is that they see a role for the ONTC in maintaining and/or operating the fleet of locomotives and rail cars that will eventually transport RoF concentrates out of the RoF wherever the destination may be.

6. Vale and Glencore are the 2 probable future owners for both the Nickel and Chromite deposits at the RoF since they both have operations in Sudbury. Vale and Glencore are currently holding talks to combine their Sudbury area operations. One option is that they will form a separate company that will be jointly owned with a common board of Directors and will operate all their mines and smelters in the Sudbury District.

7. The Glencore/Vale joint venture are watching developments in the RoF closely but they will not make a move until it is clear that the issues with the FN have been resolved or at least minimized. They also need to see a serious commitment by both levels of Gov't and a serious plan to provide transportation and electricity.

8. All companies learned a lot by Inco's experience at acquiring Voisey's Bay from Robert Friedlands' Diamond Fields in the 1990's. (see the Big Score by Jackie McNish). However we can expect that companies will not be detered from take overs when the conditions are right. Glencore/Xstrata are major producers of ferochrome and it is hard to believe that they would allow someone else to acquire a chromite deposit that is in their backyard and is the only major deposit of Chromite in North America. Like Cliffs, all of the big 4 mining companies are iron ore producers and are economically capable of swallowing up Cliffs and also get a foot into the RoF.

9. The use of Natural GAs in a new metalurgical process to smelt RoF Chromite is an important initiative that could be a game changer for smelting Chromite throughout the world. Within 2 years this intellectual property will be owned 100% by KWG. However it is important to recognize that Vale has been using nat gas forever in their nickel copper smelter in Sudbury. This is a different metallurgical process but the idea of using nat gas for smelting is not new.

10. KWG has clearly set themselves apart through their "outside the box" thinking. Tthere are many impediments to the overall development of the RoF including the FN, infrastructure, competing interests and Gov't ineptitude, politics & beurocracy. However KWG has used that time wisely to address many of the troubling issues and thereby becoming a bona fide contender for investor and corporate capital.

11. Tommorows RoF announcements will likely be rather modest and disappointing to many. It will likely involve some spending on an E-W road and some further funding for the ONTC. However it will be largely dependant on Federal funding as well. This gov't will likely survive this budget but until there is an election and the prospect of some stability in gov't we won't likely see any "boots on the ground" in the RoF. Lets hope the fumbling bumbling liberals surprise us! Of course, like the gas plants, any spending initiatives by this gov't are subject to change depending on political priorities at the time.