"Seems to me that others have only found usual VMS type deposits with no or very limited nickel in them. Mungall said he is perplexed by the origin of the sulphur in Eagle One as compared to accepted  traditional understanding of VMS geology. I am no geologist but his concern is unusal."

Are you intentionally missing the bottom line to his dissertation? His findings lead him to the expectation that the resource is likely to be kilometers in length as opposed to a couple of hundred meters.  Doesn't matter whether there is rhodium or not ( though it's certainly better),  the copper/nickel even at smaller percentages will be most economical to go fishing for.