there are a lot of theories out there about the deal with noront and probe disolving the joint venture. here is my take.cliffs and noront were opposite sides of a takeover deal so a friendly deal between them was not easy to co-ordinate. this is were david palmer came in. he makes a side deal with cliffs based on the tonnage in the fast approaching 43-101 and agrees to sell the chromite to cliffs for a set price per ton. noront wants to be a nickel producer so they get a promising property for the future. cliffs gets more chromite and the site for a mine base. i think this is already a done deal and cliffs is just waiting for the 43-101 to determine the pricetag. i can't believe david palmer would make the deal with noront without having a prearranged deal to sell the chromite. he could be stuck with a resource he could not sell. this is about to unfold at the beginning of december. i still believe once this deal goes through that cash rich agnico eagle will take out probe for the remaining gold properties. santa cliffs is coming to town so dont sell your s(t)ock to someone else before he gets here.