" It's a concern that the top holders needed the free options...

" It's a concern that the top holders needed the free options sweetener to participate. Do they not have confidence that the company can successfully commission a basic phosphate fertilizer plant? "

I doubt that it was the top holders that asked for, or needed the options. I think that would have been the broker's idea. They get a commission and may have recommended the options to the company to keep more of the sophs interested after the long suspension. Without the options it may have been difficult to predict how many participants might have dropped out. Maybe only a few but who knows. I think the options were an insurance.