The enormous effort made in the interview to prove that the...

The enormous effort made in the interview to prove that the Boda/Kaiser project crosses the viability line actually serves to reinforce the point that Mr Market, most of us and perhaps potential partners also, all have some reservations about funds being invested when grade and scale mean the project will be sailing close to the wind, even if only during construction. This in turn justifies @Antipater's strong view about drilling to find supplementary higher grade material to de-risk the project. It also justifies the bottom-drawer. Just let them drill and let ALK do the permits and all the ancillary stuff associated with the project and if in the meantime a partner emerges with a superb offer, then thats great. And Tomingley means there is relatively little risk in the meantime. The amount one invests will no doubt reflect this lack of immediate excitement.

Is it my imagination or did he also put up the "For Sale" sign or at least say "come talk to me, my current relationship is a bit wobbly"?

I am not persuaded by the concluding point. Going in because previous projects elsewhere were marginal and have "discovered" their way to success is not a punt I'd want to take just now. And of course those examples are always one-sided. Like war stories only those who survive get to write them. How many other projects have crashed and burned. Even CAI thought it could mop up all the stranded deposits in the vicinity which is the equivalent of discovering ones way to success.