If someone has a shallow, gold/silver prospect, with a reasonably certain resource, and permitting well under way, why not just continue developing it? Why "give" it to a company that is about to undergo massive dilution, whose main property is longshot Hay Mountain with nary a single drill hole? Makes no sense.
And I doubt that there is an available shallow gold/silver deposit in Arizona with permitting underway that is anywhere close to being mined. Not at $1,170/oz gold anyway.
I think of HM as multiple projects and a shallow deposit would require a lot less resources to start drilling program.
A late stage exploration/mining project could team with LBSR for quick entry into capital markets needed to further their project, plus provide cash to initiate HM.