I think that this may be a last attempt by RMS to pick EXU up on the 4:1 offer.
I'm finding it hard to articulate the politics of how I see it playing out, but I'll give it a shot:
Dangling some cash and then taking it away may unsettle a few investors and thus upping their holdings in EXU and giving them more control. As most investors prefer cash it'seasy to see why a strategy like this may be effective. Ongoing delays (which I attribute to distractions) doesn't help.
Reading between the lines it appears the only reason why they couldn't make it work is because they want to truck or along the interstate - in line with commentary around the need for dirt to process at EM. A slight tweak in strategy could give them 1.5mines with 7+ years of revenue.