Frank mentioned the Belt and Road Initiative as a possible source of ROF funding.  IMHO if there is no offtake agreement/funding via Chinese interests the rail option is dead for years at least and NOT E/W road or a variation of it becomes the only peicemeal viable financial and palatable political option. There is very little chance that the Feds or Wynne is going to announce major funding for ROF mining and NO major corp could justify the magnitude of investment needed to their shareholders when for all intents and purposes a mine operation is years away.  That is why the offtake supply agreement makes sense for entity that needs the resource and can lock in a future supply source with many years of product.   

"China’s well-funded Belt and Road Initiative has rolled out with thousands of Chinese enterprises going all out in the vast, new market created by participating countries and beyond. The vast overseas market will become a giant pool of capital, with trillions of dollars of overseas investment and financing in the coming years, experts projected.

Chinese investments overseas have been growing at a double-digit rate over the past 10 years. By 2016, some 30,000 Chinese companies have marched overseas, with a total investment of $1.2 trillion, including outward foreign direct investment at $183.2 billion. In five years, that figure is expected to rise to $750 billion, revealed Zhou Xiaofei, a director at National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)."