Met Quinton Hennigh and Brent Cook this past Friday at the Tenbagger seminar in San Francisco.

I was pleasantly surprised at Quinton's speaking ability and the quality of his presentation. He also seemed a very humble and low key fellow.

There were about 50 paid attendees at this 4-hour seminar and no one in the audience seemed to know about Novo. At least I was the only person there to ask Quinton questions about Novo during the break and after the seminar. More about that below.

The two 30-minute presentations that Brent and Quinton gave basically covered how to evaluate deposits and how to tell when companies are trying to put lipstick on a pig.

The seminar went overtime and Brent asked from the podium whether there were any questions. I stood up and asked about Novo and said I knew Quinton would need to recuse himself but any comments on Novo by Brent and the other two instructors would be welcomed. Unfortunately, Brent said they can't talk about specific companies which I found disingenuous since they had just finished naming many names in their presentations! But Brent did say in his next breath that "Nothing wrong there" (referring to Novo) before he quickly moved onto the next questioner. After the seminar ended, a couple of people came up to me to ask what was the company that I had said Quinton is the CEO of. One of them thought he heard me say NovaGold.

Here are some answers Quinton gave me about Novo during the break and after the seminar:

1) Why did it take so long to get the 70/30 JV deal done with Mark Creasy? Answer: Not for lack of trying; Quinton flew to Australia every year for several years to sit down with Mark over a beer before the deal was finally done. He said Mark is definitely not the easiest person to work with.

2) I pointed to the Beatons Creek and Marble Bar maps and asked how much of the 1,800 square km does he expect to be mineralized. Answer: He couldn't say, of course, but he did seem particularly excited about the large area immediately southwest of Grants Hill.

3) Are there any known environomental issues? Answer: No.

4) Milling to be done nearby? Will that be Millennium Minerals' mill? Answer: Yes, and it's just a few miles west of Beatons Creek.

5) If South African miners can withstand the heat several miles down, why can't summer surface drilling be done in the Australian Pilbara? Answer: Temperature was 50C yesterday and humidity was 90%. Human frailty!

I wished I had a whole hour with Quinton 1-on-1 to ask all the questions I wanted answers to, but alas. I did come away with greater confidence in Novo's future after meeting him in person.

Go Novo!!