a press release announcing funding is in hand removes all doubt. until then, opinions abound, on one side then the other, and thousands of words written.
eegc would do well to do a press release one way or the other: we have funding or we don't.
It's obvious that Empire does not have funds to hand for the drilling and seismic surveying to get underway.
Do you really think that the option exercise of $100K would not have been shouted out loud? Or that a signed big-money JV would not have been put up in neon lights on Broadway? What possible reason could there be for secrecy? Get real.
The days pass into weeks and still no funding. There is still time but it's not looking good.