rodg45,
you could be on to something. the best way to earn excess profits is to be a monopoly or monopolize a product. norilsk owns control of the largest platinum group metals (pgm's) miner in north america via stillwater mining (mostly palladium at stillwater). norilsks complex in siberia is the worlds largest palladium miner.
the controllers of the major platinum deposits are in those bastions of stability in africa (note tongue firmly in cheek related to stability and reliability of africa producers, russia for that matter also.) through a variety of firms ie impala, etc..
russia and south africa working together for their own self interests is sort of old hat so not a big stretch here conceptually. as i recall, russia and south africa control something like 90%+ of the world pgm production through their mines and with norilsk's control of stillwater added in.
if noront is in fact now finding the next great pgm mining district (which would be far better then a great nickel find) wouldn't norilsk want to be part of it and likely want to try to control any future major pgm finds in order to PROTECT their other massive profits from existing pgm mining operations?
is norilsk staking in the james bay areas right now? that is what one poster thinks who wrote on this site earlier. if this proves correct, i think it will be very significant.
is norilsk one of the firms that has signed a non agression agreement (for lack of a better description) with noront? if so that would tie in well with what may be happening.
make no mistake, if we continue to prove up pgms with any quantity it will be more significant then most think. for perspective, most would agree that $800 a ton worth of STRATEGIC pgm's is worth a lot more market cap then $800 a ton worth of most any other NON STRATEGIC metal. very simply, a STRATEGIC metal in a safe jurisdiction ie canada, is worth a higher price earnings ratio then the same value per ton of NON STRATEGIC metals with the same operating costs.
pgm's when found are often found near nickel finds.
investing is interesting isn't it?
all the best,
jsq
