I think that it is unfair to suggest that ESS have been slow in...

I think that it is unfair to suggest that ESS have been slow in their application for a mining lease. There are requirements for a successful mining lease application to be lodged, and it is pointless to lodge an application before all the minimum boxes are ticked. ESS went through this process with their caesium operation and were on this path with lithium quite early. I don't know of a lithium miner with an earlier stage mining lease application. I also don't agree that the Pioneer Dome resource is too small to support a processing plant. At prices a third of present it is very profitable. The more important point is that the strong probability is that there is plenty more lithium to be discovered within close proximity to any proposed treatment plant. The decision around these matters is complex and requires much more information than is available publicly. We will have to trust that management makes the right call.