We have been told a few times we are "in a position of strength"...

We have been told a few times we are "in a position of strength" for negotiations. This has unfortunately turned out to be embarrassingly wishful thinking and we are now looking very much like the loser on the block who has spent far too much SH money to be where we are (around triple our current MC), failed to garner investor interest from Nth America and definitely alienated/let down all Shareholders.

How would I fund the project?

Firstly fix all of the above mentioned problems.
-Axe all our surplus staff, cut travel to bare necessities only and 1 or 2 promotional trips maximum, with 1 staff member at a time only to attend.
-Axe all director's performance rights that are not linked to SP growth above $1, $1.50 and $2.
-Raise all needed exploration and development costs through to DFS with non-dilutive royalty/streaming and clearly and loudly promise SH that there will be no further equity dilution.
-Redirect all the bullshit wasteful travel budget and cash saved from axing half of Applecross staff into drilling LV like you actually mean it- minimum 2 drills at a time running 24/7 until each stage of drilling program is completed.
-SHOW the world how awesome the company is instead of trying to ram it repeatedly down bored investors' throats at highly expensive conference events.

Finally, sit back and enjoy the combination of happy shareholders and a plethora of potential partners and new investors elbowing each other for a piece of the pie.