You're probably a bit correct on both counts. Whatever his motive was way back when he first started, I don't know. What I do know was that he soon found it more profitable to mine the shareholders (around 2006) than to try and run a legit biz. All one has to do is look at the ridiculous claims in his prs back then...none of which came close to fruition.
He did have ore though, and when the prices hit the roof he realized (at least to a degree) that it made some sense to attempt to do some actual mining.
The scammer that I believe he is, is what took him down in the end. His business contacts were just like him, only better at playing off people...and who better to play off than a fellow con artist? Bobby simply reaped what he sowed imo.