No mining permit, page-5

In all honesty I have to disagree with your last sentence.

Yes, the project appears to have a lot of sustainability rigour (particularly considering it's quite an environmentally sensitive area, noting the surrounding agricultural businesses), so kudos goes to Piedmont for that. However, the company has done itself quite a disservice for their lack of consultation and significant project delays regarding the environmental approvals. When you consult with government bodies, seeking approvals, the idea is to keep them as informed as possible and leave nothing to surprise. Piedmont seems to have historically done a very poor job of keeping them informed, despite the project timelines being delayed time and time again.

Hopefully they've learnt their lesson (quotes from the CEO implies they have), and the environmental merits of the project can be the decisive factor. Hopefully the fact that this represents a good opportunity for the USA to secure on-shore supply of Lithium, for their heavily growing EV sector, helps catalyse things too.

I see the AGM was postponed overnight, until February. I was keen to get an update on the various projects, so hopefully we receive one soon.