Mariner, Thanks for the reply. It was pretty much everything I was wondering about.I read the link on the Niobec mine and then tried to transfer that to our operation, but got lost somewhere. The containerized option sounds like the way to go, has capacity for volume variances without the big investment in rail extentions. The boats(1000 footers) Dave steered up and down the lakes carried the iron ore pellets you mentioned. They hauled east from the mines at the west end of the lakes. I guess I somehow missed the posts discussing the shipping. I'm familiar with the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore, but hadn't thought of it for our use.
The Niobec site has the processing building located over the mine shaft, so everything is inside, I think. If we are spread over a larger area, we could have some winter problems, but I doubt it. What about the other metals when they are mixed in? Is seperation at the different refining stages easy? Or are they pretty much zoned seperate becaused of the way they are deposited in the ground?
I download the link to my favorites, and will go back over it more thoroughly. The progress in the cancer front is comming so fast that the FDA will have to modify its testing to get these cures in the field quicker. Those types of innactions are not acceptable. Wonder how much of the competitors stock he owns. Thanks again LC