"Is MT caught between a rock and a hard place? He knows the time...

"Is MT caught between a rock and a hard place? He knows the time is now but does he accept a low ball deal? I am of course just speculating. IMO only."

You seem like kind of a jumpy/pessimistic investor. Personally, I assume nothing without evidence to support it.

• Is it possible LKAB/Mitsui have MT backed into a corner? Absolutely. LKAB, in particular, has a lot of leverage as the state owned mining company. And, Mitsui is well aware they're a whale and what that means for financing a project like Talga's.

• Is it possible it's the other way around and MT has Mitsui backed into a corner? Absolutely. MT has a lot of cards on his side of the table too. There's only one Vittangi deposit in the world, but there are a lot of potential partners.

• Is it possible that Talga and Mitsui have already reached an amicable arrangement with no difficult negotiations and Mitsui is just waiting on the drilling results before sealing the deal? Absolutely. If I were running Mitsui, I wouldn't sign anything before the drilling results 100% confirmed the size of the deposit.

I view none of these possibilities as more likely than the others, because we have no evidence to support any of them.