RE:Consultant payoffFirst, I am thrilled/relieved at the news today. Congrats to the company and to all of us that stuck it out through all the hand-wringing!
GoldenArm, I agree. If RR believes the company's equity has the near-future value that has been intimated, these recent stock option award practices for part-time help (whether a consultant or a non-employee director) really need further explanation from the company or the will continue to invite question/scrutiny.
I in particular remain increasingly dubious of the stock option award to Kelli Ward on 400,000 shares (i.e. an option on over $1.6M worth of stock today). I went back to the press release and her options apparently vest over only 12 months. What if any economic value has she really provided in her time with the company so far? She is a medical doctor with no energy, drilling or natural resource experience, but is the chair of the Arizona Republican Party. Per my previous post, her place in local politics leaves her unable to broker any settlement with liberal Flagstaff leaders (if anything her interest in the company probably makes a potential settlement less palatable to city leaders). Also, because of her economic interest in DME and fiduciary duties as a member of the board, any efforts by her to lobby state government or legislators would likely now raise conflicts of interest and ethics issues (and potentially attract unhelpful attention/scrutiny/questions from media or those hostile to helium development in Arizona). The more I think about it, the more I believe the option grant to Kelli Ward (and her appointment to the board) is a major misstep by DME (not only due to the overly large size of the stock option award, but also because it seems here role is (if anything) a net liability - not an asset - to the company). If Kelli Ward really wants to help Arizona economically by facilitating successful development by companies like DME, she simply should do so as part of her political platform and not compromise her ethical ability to do so by taking a large financial interest in DME. Unless there is some explanation here that I don't see, DME should replace Kelli Ward with someone with relevant experience and recoup whatever it can based on the portion of the options that haven't yet vested (I don't know if they vest monthly, quarterly or entirely at the 12-month mark).
I'm sorry if I sound overly critical about this - that whole thing just doesn't make any sense to me. However, I'm still excited to be a shareholder, to see what the well 4 test data shows, to see what the updated plan for the rest of the year will be, and to continue collaborating with you all as we try to put the dots together based on the public information we have.