This virtual forum was held yesterday. The discussion focused on the arduous US permitting environment for mines. Evans is featured around minute 16 speaking about Thacker Pass, and around minute 52 speaking about the permitting environment in other jurisdictions such as Canada, Australia and Argentina. At minute 35 he outlines where they are with permitting and litigation and this I think is the best segment I've ever heard from him. 

He says they expect to be doing early works this fall, which I'm assuming are things like building access roads, leveling and stringing power, and (from the 16-minute segment) expects major construction starting this time next year. He said about two or three years for build out, whereas he used to say two years, but maybe this time he's acknowledging there might be construction hiccups, and hopefully he's including commissioning as well. So we're looking at Q3 2025 for real production.

In the 35-minute segment he said they are drafting a loan request for the Dept of Energy, after having been vetted and asked to submit by the Dept. He said they're asking for "hundreds of millions of dollars", and that the Dept is looking to give (loaned) money away. He said he was not worried about financing. Wow!

Please add more important nuggets that I have missed.

Congressional Western Caucus