THFS, you are right that the company is officially focused on getting Epanko into production as soon as it can.
However, they know they are close on the Merelani announcement (as per the official release, Richland have already agreed with KNL in writing), and they are confident that should the Merelani announcement happen soon, then the timeframe to bring Merelani on board is less than Epanko.
Hence over the last couple of months, the company announcements have changed to include and highlight the words "Fast tracking to graphite production".
I was also at a company presentation a month or so ago, and the company view is that if Merelani is announced soon, that they will be aiming to have that in production asap (without losing focus on Epanko).
As per the last CR, you'll also notice they raised money and have some of it earmarked for Merelani.
I know that management are excited about both prospects coming into production, and are focussing on both of them. As for their level of confidence, I can only refer you to my previous post about the board change, and adoption of John Park as Chairman, who was one of the original key people in the Merelani mine, and knows it inside out.
KNL Price at posting:
36.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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