I actually don't care if he gets a deal over the line anymore....

I actually don't care if he gets a deal over the line anymore. Financially it's desirable for obvious reasons, but it doesn't change my view of CE. I no longer trust a word that comes out of his mouth. On 16 December 2024, he did an interview with Rock-Stock where he said this:

“We’ve got just under $30m Australian in the bank which puts us in a pretty healthy cash position, we’ve been very careful to protect that given the current market, and the uncertainties involved in anyone who’s even thinking about raising money”

I honestly don't know how anyone can reconcile these comments with the fact that they went to market, hat in hand, less than 2 months later at a >20% discount, trying to raise a pittance. And remember there was no drilling going on at this time. The bloke is deeply untrustworthy, and after rewatching the interview, it's clear he was lying through his teeth. He knew that liabilities were going to have an imminent impact on the cash balance, and the situation was nowhere near as "healthy" as he was saying. That fact that he would infer how difficult it is to raise cash (note the bold underlined sentence) is even more insulting.

I'm surprised anyone has any confidence in his "feeling" that they are very close to a deal. The bloke was clearly willing to misrepresent the company's situation less than two months prior to raise, so his words now are worthless.

Deal or not, he's a lying piece of sh*t in my view. His incompetence over the last couple of months has cratered the SP, and it will be a long slog back. I also think anyone who thinks a deal will result in an immediate re-rate is in for a rude shock. PMT rose 41% off the back of their Volkswagen strategic investment, and it has subsequently given back almost all those gains. A 41% rise here would get us back to just 37 cents........