I see little reason to acquire more "potential" tonnes of ore,...

I see little reason to acquire more "potential" tonnes of ore, given the vast amount of known (and projected) tonnages that EQR has. I would suggest that the current "reserves" tonnages would amount to several billion $s when processed.

Of more importance for EQR (imho) is to realise a way of increasing planned production and/or value-adding. Either/both would require a lot of $s now. A strategic stake in the Company by one/both of its MOU partners (Masan & EMEC) to secure/enhance production volumes over (say) the next 10 years could be an option.

Further support by Cronimet (which has been a rock-solid partner up to date) through further Capital Investment to upgrade/expand/bring forward EQR's planned expansion could be on the cards.

Another scenario is to develop the waste into valuable products (remember, we are producing enormous tonnages of waste material every day) that could be converted into (say) building bricks.

Clearly, Management can see their ramp-up strategy is working, allowing for a major expansion potential to be realised -and I would suggest someone else sees this too.