Here are my possible explanations for the delay, listed from most likely to least likely:

1. The FS was nearly complete. They found a last minute major flaw in the mine plan and had to scrap it and redo a large portion of the work.

2. The FS was never near completion. Elmer is an excellent geologist but a very poor project manager. He never had very good control of the FS and this allowed Tetra Tech to get very behind schedule.

3. The FS was complete. The results were not very favorable and Elmer decided we would need to incorporate the latest Resource Estimate in order to present a more attractive FS.

4. The FS was nearly complete. Teck wanted us to make some technical changes and this caused the delay.

5. The FS was complete. Teck told us to delay the FS so they could work out a buyout agreement.