I dont think management has got any good deal on the table and...

I dont think management has got any good deal on the table and so they are trying to drag things as long as they can. They will soon have to do an equity raising at a huge discount (at-least 20%) if they plan to go alone (which is a very likely scenario) and excuse they will give is "we were not able to find a suitable JV partner who ticks all the boxes based on our requirement".
They were lucky they got the POSCO deal done for northern tenements else the SP would well and truely be under $1.50 right now.
At current lithium price Mt Cattlin is not a cash-cow anymore. They cant even ship more than 15K ton this quarter. Waiting to hear excuse from management for this poor shipment when they announce the march quarterly!
Best of luck long termholders...