Another issue the laterites have is that Indonesia has plenty of Nickel available at higher grades in laterite form. If the nickel price increases to levels Aus laterites can cut the mustard, the supply from indonesia will commence (as already being circulated in the media as in the works).
Genuinely think the market cap here would be 3-4x higher even without funding if this was outside the DRC. Not sure I can apply that level of risk premium myself.