The increasingly divergent public narratives on Wesfarmers’ progress to its conditional and non-binding approach on Lynas Corporation are important not least because they suggest the West Australian’s preferred path to success is now an extremely unlikely option.

I mean, if neither side can agree on the facts of first contact, first rejection, first bid indication and final rejection then getting to the point where a Lynas board might co-operate on a scheme takeover would seem to be an impossibility.