Have a read of this:...

Have a read of this:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinio.../control-battery-resources-key-ev-leadership/

You have Japan/China/Korea all looking to expand. Producers of battery quality of Ni/Co are rare, especially 0nes with large deposits in a stable country.

$600M is not that much if you are looking to keep your automotive industry alive. Large automakers/battery makers/mining companies have very cheap access to debt.

I'd also recommend you read the PFS section around funding again as well:

Currently there is a very high level of market interest in the electric vehicle sector and growing industry concerns over securing long term, sustainable and non-conflict cobalt supply. This is driving a high level of corporate activity in the junior mining sector. As such the Company has been approached and had preliminary discussions with respect to potential offtake with several potential strategic partners. These include international mining companies, trading houses and automotive manufacturers capable of providing financing at the level required to fund the development of the project. The PFS financial, economic and marketing metrics are robust and the resource base at the Goongarrie Ni Co Project could deliver a multi-decade production opportunity. In addition, the project’s location within a mature, low sovereign risk mining jurisdiction is attractive to these parties. The Company has formed the view that there are reasonable grounds to assume that a combination of offtake finance, debt and equity will likely be successfully raised and be sufficient to cover the estimated capital and working capital costs. Going forward, the Company will continue to assess all possible commercial mechanisms to determine the optimum financing solution during the DFS period.

The Company will continue to explore options in relation to securing financing from one or more customer(s) for the Project, as discussions progress in relation to securing binding offtake commitments. Given the favourable Project economics demonstrated by the PFS, and the strong demand for offtake that is currently being indicated by potential customers, the Company believes that the Project has the capacity to attract a reasonable level of debt funding. In addition, Ardea would consider additional BOO style commercial contracts with respect to key project infrastructure to reduce the overall upfront capital requirements and has had preliminary discussions with engineering groups on this basis. The Company may also consider developing the Project in conjunction with one or more strategic partners at the project level.