RE:What happened
Management must be well aware that they can never raise $600 million to build the project.
They will never even raise the money for a feasibility study.
They are also well aware that the mine is a dud, they had to assume a ridiculous price for a fictitious product just to get the pEA to provide a positive result.
However, if they admit that, the company is finished and they will be out of a job. It seems that there are enough stupid investors out there to enable ZEN to raise just enough money each year to pay their salaries, so why not milk it for as long as they can.