stevenp, that's it.  Thank you very much, and thank you, Lief, for your comment which follows what I'm getting at.

The key to that much early post from the company was...

"We have signed or are working on signing confidentiality agreements recently with more than three mining companies."

There too it seems I was overly eager for a positive reading on the meaning.  Going back to a long ago college level course on Logic, it appears more as if words are being used to obfiscate the facts.  I had from the above quote been to quick to assume that "We have signed..." as meaning that was a done deal, ...in the bag. 

On my second reading just now, when one adds, "...or are working on signing...", that brings into question the first part of the sentence, if not completely negating it, meaning no confidentiality agreement had been signed, and the more recent company post on this subject adds only more word games.

I am feeling as if I have a ring in my nose, and something has been pulling me down the garden path, changing my entire outlook here. 

I want to puke!