Dear Pip,
To get the DOD money, Ucore only has to do one thing. Prove it can separate out heavy REE oxides to government specs. They do that, then more than likely DOD funds the whole build out of the LA plant and the next two or three plants to get tons produced up.
When they prove that they can do it quicker, greener, the rest will do offtakes.
Say I am right and DOD does fund all. So the question to ask would what? How fast can Ucore do the build out and can it do more than one build out at the same time?
Dragon