Ongoing SP Discussion, page-1513

"No. As I have told you before, the complete project is not known here and this is reflected by the technicians in their report when they say that it is up to higher hierarchical criteria whether or not to approve the project."

Even the dataroom for a PFS would have all the information technicians would require. Saying it "it is up to a higher hierarchical criteria" just screams they are looking for someone else to sign off on it because they don't want to stick their neck out (not surprising given the unemployment rate in the area).

Frustrating but is by no means a surprise. Even if 100 % of people were in favor for this project, it will take a long time to get approved. General rule of thumb is work out how long you think it will take to get to the next stage then times it by 3 haha.