Ann: Annual Report to shareholders , page-4

Whole point of a JV is to limit their exposure to risk and avoid dilution.

They have something good, but limited cash so instead of diluting the shareholders every few months, they bring in a JV and they fund the majority of the exploration with no dilution to the share holder.

Yes it limits the upside, but at least it means they can continue to operate for a while.

They only need 1 successful JV and they will never need another one again.