Let's agree that in the long term, NOT will probably be worth more in total than FWR. However, as Keynes also pointed out, in the long term we are all dead. FWR has the advantage of immediate liquidity, as exemplified by CLF 's interest in gaining a hold. Mega cr deposits are rare birds, and generally more strategic assets, whereas Ni finds are in themselves pretty much a commodity right now. NOT's drilling will hopefully come up with some kind of spectacular deposit other than Ni to give its Ni deposit some shorter term liquidity. So, look at FWR deposits as a lever that NOT can use to attract greater immediate interest in its own longer term Ni deposits. This is not about likes and dislikes, simply about the mineral deposit markets as they are today. If CLF wants this deposit long term, they will have to bid on it now or it will likely be combined with NOT, and only available to a bigger long term bidder. Potentially, that bigger bidder has already said to NOT "We could do business now if you had the Cr."

The non-sequitur in all of this is that such a long term bidder could have started by making a simple offer for FWR. That is the logic that I believe leads many of us to postulate that CLF itself could be that bigger bidder, considering NOT cannot outbid CLF if CLF wants FWR now. CLF stock repesents real money and highly liquid at the $100-200 million level.If CLF does not counter , I will be surprised because CLF then would need a strategic partner in a JV to take out a combined NOT/FWR , anticipating that as a billion plus deal. So immediate valuation is less important than long term strategies to capture much bigger values.