The short answer is Paul Berend. To me the resource is worth a...

The short answer is Paul Berend. To me the resource is worth a lot more than $US2B. I don't think that we will anywhere near that. The previous owners (2 of them) had bad timing and did not realize the quality of the resource. The project needs a lot of capital which the previous owners did not have or have access to. They were selling a higher grade ore to the run of the mill steel producers. Albeit with a margin. Then the bottom fell out of the iron ore price, making the project only just viable. Not a good place to get a lot of finance.

We now have a perfect storm. The resource is one of the best grades in the world. It has great metallurgy. It fits perfect with the newer steel mills at a time when green steel is the newest trend and will rapidly increase in size. Paul had the experience to see the quality and the expertise to get the maximum quality out of the resource. He also had the expertise to know how to bring the quality to market.
The previous owners were just going to put the product on EBay. Chalk and Cheese.