Rick, the right thing to do is to concede when in the wrong. Yes, I did attribute his opinion to a possible insider leak. So I concede. The point however you seem to miss, (and by the way, no outrage on my part), is that those who are close to the BOD should be extremely careful on what they opine and how they opine, let's just say for future reference.
On the part of forming the affiliation and looking to hire a management team, person, group, to spearhead NUOCO, and exploration efforts, haven't we been there and done that with Ulander? If I am wrong on this point, then I stand corrected. It seems to me that such a person(s) entities were brought in to Santiago to start the above process and we got bub-kiss.
IMO there will not be a JV partner identified due to the formation of NUOCO. And quoting from your post which is a direct quote from the Feb 25 update:
"to expand work to include significant exploration and prospecting with the goal of leading into a large production project." And the parties "have agreed to immediately hire a prominent Mining Manager to oversee all mining production matters." And that as of late February, "four mining faces have been opened on LDM and 3 targets on the Mambo claims have already been identified and tested".
I think the above implies, based on the BOD historical parlance, either the JV is off the table or I might even possibly give the BOD a bit of "atta-boy" pat on the back.
If they formed NUOCO to deflect shareholder ire, then it may possibly work for that purpose. Or, the side of me that is "the glass is half full" might think this move may pressure the JV partner to hasten its willingness to sign an agreement. In which case, they deserve the "atta-boy".
At this point, I give the BOD little room in this effort to monetize the copper mining efforts within the bounds of NUOCO. So until I see real results, I am quite skeptical of their motive to form NUOCO.
I am sure you have read RD579's posts, both previous and current. Without an objective and industry applied and accepted quality mining and reporting methods being followed, i.e. NI43-101 or its equivalent, or a final outcome of refined ore, substantiated by an independent refinery, any findings by NUOCO will be suspect, in my eyes.
