I know you're very enthusiastic, but I think you're finding reasons for your enthusiasm that are unfounded.
1. The battle between Noront and Probe has been ongoing for years. The disputed claim blocks were filed by Probe at a time that both parties were in an active JV arrangement. And according to my sources, the information used to select these specific claim blocks was based on Noront-held information obtained during that JV. You'll note in the settlement that Probe gave up considerable rights, and Noront gave up nothing.
2. Noront did extensive geophysics during the late winter, and had to beef up one of their drills to got to the depths they've just gone, the work being done during breakup, I'm told. They commenced drilling as soon as possible after the spring breakup ended. In summary, there's a completely reasonable explanation for what took place, without invoking hidden motives.
3. Noront needed time to do their own geophysical interpretations and approve the drill collar locations and dips. You don't just sign off on things blindly. As you don't drill without targets, and knowing the claim locations, having nickel sulphides as the intended prize is really no surprise.
4. You don't understand the characteristics of the Eagle 1 anomaly. The whole block of rock that contains the Eagle 1 conduit has been tectonically overturned by about 110-120 degrees from its implacement orientation, with the overturning towards the SSE. That means that what was the lowest section of the emplacement period conduit (which trended at about 20-30 degrees above the horizontal as it was originally oriented) is now at the NW edge of a near vertical deposit. The deep hole just drilled was most assuredly not on the nearby PRB/NOT JV claim, nor oriented to strike towards it. I can tell that simply by the description of it, and existing models of the deposit. Unfortunately, I can't prove that without collar and dip, which have not yet been publicly released. But I hope you'll accept my interpretation for the time being. I'll gladly update this model upon receiving the missing information.
5. Drilling.
Regards,
Lar
