I would prefer to make a deal before PRB sp goes ballistic. But if the land owners are dragging feet waiting for a better time to gain an upper hand in the negotiation, then PRB should be prepared to take a tough stand, e.g. to go around the "potential" deposits under the "wedge" and the other claims SE of the cottages.

- Wedge: There may be something under the wedge, but there may not be any high grades under there. One way to get around this (any experts out there may want to jump in with a correction, if what I say here is out of wack) is to have some condemnation drilling outside the potential deposit zone. The government should be willing to grant an easement over the land that has no deposit, with the evidence from the condemnation drilling. PRB should approach the forestry people to discuss the easement proposal... to build a ramp outside the potential deposit. In other words, PRB should give a strong signal that they don't care about getting its hands on the deposit, if there is some.

This wedge is small anyway, hence would not contribute much to the total results. The wedge acquisition is just for the convenience for an open pit operation. All this should be explained to the land owners, so that they may become more flexible?

- The claims between the cottages and 100% PRB in the SE: Exploration drilling can start on the 100% PRB claims (on the SE side) if there are indication of a continuation of the HGZ in that direction. Again, the same strategy applies...be prepared to ignore the potential deposit under claims that belong to the forestry people.

- The cottages: Assuming that the cottagers don't have the mineral rights underneath their properties, then there should be no need to buy them off, since drilling can be done horizontally from PRB claims (e.g. from the lake, or islands) to poke around. See the current horizontal drilling at Koper Lake being carried out by BOL/KWG.

It sounds a bit hard-nosed, but hey, this is negotiation. Sometimes, one would need to show to the opponent(s) that the "walk-away from a deal" is an option.

goldhunter