Timmins has first of all the history (past smelter approval ), second it has the location ( closest to the Ring ),  third it has the community acceptance, which means their people are smart ( they know technology and standards have changed ), and fourth Noront knows that Timmins is the best choice, but for some reason they feel compelled to allow the decision process to delay things further.  There must be a reason for this delay, because the choice is obvious.  Timmins.  SSM should be the choice to deal with post processing into final products, and the shipment of said products to the US. 

There should be no quarter given to the US, for Canada should not yield until full beneficiation of our chromite into stainless steel has been obtained.  Till then we should keep the US waiting.  But somehow, I think powers greater than both of our countries will tell us exactly how all of this will play out.  So....We must wait until we are told what to do.

TM.