It's a weird dynamic as obviously supply vs demand is dictating...

It's a weird dynamic as obviously supply vs demand is dictating the vanadium price at the moment (excluding any manipulation possible in the market through china), so yes it makes sense investors are going to be critical of investing in Vanadium if they see the two most reliable and proven producers practically going bust at the moment in this market, but if those outfits fall out of the supply chain then what happens to the vanadium price?

Basically predicting what happens there is beyond what I want to attempt.

I think aspects that make this unique though is the government interest in seeing Australia become a player in the critical mineral space, and it being so closely tied to green energy, especially with the downstream battery business being tangible right now, it likely opens up funding options that wouldn't be available based purely on economics of e.g. if this were a Silver mine.

That's not to say I want or expect the final figures to be bad or uneconomical, but that they aren't the be all and end all (for better or worse).
Now, do I want AVL to even consider letting that be a scapegoat for not completely optimizing their plan forward? No.
I would also go as far to say that personally, if government funding of say 400mil was available for a particular development plan at a $6 opex, but an alternate development plan that could achieve a $5.50 Opex, the government knocks back due to it not ticking other boxes, would I want them to just go with the $6 opex plan?

Again, no for me personally.
But I would also understand others supporting whatever secures us funding.

And i'm not saying that's the scenario we have here with offsite vs site, but it could be, and it's an interesting ongoing question of what is leading the decisions. If funding is the ultimate goal,then why shouldn't we just go with what funders want, whether it's the most economical or not.

As an investor myself, albeit a tiny one, I would just assume the best project economically is the one most likely to be funded, but honestly i'm not even sure if that is the ultimate rule that applies here, so I have no solid idea what direction this goes.

Before Sabine jumps in, yes Wood group are doing their work, but it will be as directed by AVL so IF the decision has been made to process at A or B, they will be looking at how to optimise that plan, nothing more.

I'm not making any assumptions here, just discussing points on my mind.

The fact no one can agree on what is actually happening, or should happen, or will happen, does give a hint at why the share price is in the same uncertain limbo. IMO