Borrowing a bit of the post here on the Off Topic Forum posted just now by ElithX, I found the last portion of that post relevant to what I lifted from "Tony" over on TOB and his analysis.  Both Tony and the post by ElithX here point to a dereliction of duty on the part of Piedmont to its stock holders, a situation not comparable in the least to the more responsible position taken by LAC.  

From the post by ElithX:

Five of the seven members of the county's board of commissioners, who control zoning changes, say they may block or delay the project because Piedmont has not told them what levels of dust, noise and vibrations will occur, nor how water and air quality would be affected. "Piedmont has sort of put the proverbial cart before the horse," said Tom Keigher, chair of the board of commissioners. "Why in the world would they make this deal with Tesla before they even have approval for the mine?"