I would say the current lack of EPA/Governmental approvals would...

I would say the current lack of EPA/Governmental approvals would be having an impact on the Offtake agreements.

Tier 1s would want projects set in stone rather than speculating if it was going to get approval or not. As you mentioned they would do a great deal of DD like forecasting the impacts of supply on their production schedules, optimising operations with an increased supply etc.

They wouldn’t do all this forecasting and DD if there was a chance that VRXs project may not go through. At the end of the day they’re about optimising efficiency, productivity and the bottom line. No point wasting hours on something that hasn’t been officially approved yet. These are the Japanese and Koreans were talking about here! They would likely have a draft Offtake though based on past agreements

They’re big enough and have enough supply to wait around for 6-10 months for approvals. They know VRX only wants to sign with Tier 1s so wouldn’t be stressed at possibility of loosing VRX.

The EPA and governmental approvals are the last KEY milestones that need to be achieved before this is significantly derisked.

Likely why BM said the next 3 months are going to be exisiting.

EPA - Governmetal Approval - Offtakes