Please do read the announcements, it's funded.
You're possibly confusing offtake agreements and possibly not understanding that there are many different types of offtake-agreements.
At present Axiom is drying and stockpiling the ore.
Once stockpiled we will get a much higher price for ore than by seeking a pre-payment offtake.
I am hearing that mining is on track, there are no facts suggesting otherwise.
There is a market for Laterite. Laterite Nickel Ore Stockpiles are now at historical lows (see link below).
http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/nickel_historical.html
There is a market for everything, you can bag up horse-poo and there is a market for that too.