"...3. At this point, the company is switching gears based on what they have done to confirm or disprove a thesis, which is concerning. Why would you need to do this in the first place?..."
I am a little too critical here. The sign of a good mind is to switch gears as quickly as possible, based on new findings, and of course, this company is very well cashed up, so they did that so very right, and kudos to management....
If I were them, I would call Robert Quartermain and his world class team at PVG and ask for some help, but what do I knkow.......