I think they are waiting to see if Gross will begin to act in shareholder interest.  Seriously, who would want to invest in a company in which the current CEO is launching seemingly ridiculous lawsuits against the founder of the company using very limited shareholder dollars.  I think this is a much bigger deal than some want to admit.  If the CEO won't act in shareholder interest, can he be trusted at all?  That is the question many potential funders/partners are likely asking.

In my opinion, and opinions are all any of us really have in the absense of meaningful statements from "management", they would love to invest at this point but feel like they have to wait for an adult to be back in charge.  The fact that there is such a strong appearance of pettiness and pique (as HKIPP likes to call it), regardless of whether or not it is 100% accurate, is enough to forestall possible deals in my view.  This is why it is so important to drop these lawsuits immediately and to give proper consideration to all deals.  Honestly, even though I have no particular liking for Mr. Gross, if he would do these things and get a great deal I would not have much left to say.  All other things aside, success wins a lot of arguments and I wish us all much success regardless of who the CEO is.  I just think we don't have much of a chance as long as BG retains his grip on power.

For those that think I am insisting that JB be back in charge, that is not what I am saying.  I think that would be the best scenario, but let's replace Gross as CEO, replace most of the board, and put JB back on the board or at least in charge of the HM project.  

Also, I hate that I have to say this, but there are a few on this board who think that anyone who points out problems with Brett Gross and expresses support for James Briscoe is 100% an apologist for Briscoe.  I admit that I rather like the guy for a variety of reasons, but neither do I think he is faultless, any more than I think I am.  I do think, however, that he operated in shareholder interest as he saw it and was far better qualified in understanding LBSR's potential.  Having said that, he made a serious mistake in bringing Brett Gross into the fold, and I imagine he would admit that as a mistake if in a conversation.  I think he got duped by a few people that he trusted.  For people who enjoy history, read up on General/President Grant.  Awesome man, really, but he was taken advantage of on several occasions even to the point of being bankrupted a few times based on trusting people. That often happens to guile-less people who try to see the best in people. 

One can say that this is a disqualifier for him to return as CEO, and that would be fair enough (though I imagine he has learned from his mistakes), but I would rather have someone who trusted the wrong people than to have one of the people that couldn't be trusted.