Ann: Japanese Consortium Update on Progress on KNP Goongarrie Hub, page-40

I know what you mean. In a way, I prefer ARL doing solo, too.

But I'm not sure whether the price to pay is worth it.
The JC can link ARL to very cheap financing from the Japanese govt. Culturally, they are quite honourable, which they can afford to uphold because of their meticulous due diligence practice.
I recall that they didn't pull a fast one on Lynas when it was desperately financially stuck. Japan, like China and S. Korea, take a long term view of business that spans decades.

If ARL were to go solo, then it'll have to tap on the Western financiers. The likes of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Band, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Macquarie, etc. are most likely to come a-calling. They push hard, play rough and take a short-term view of business.

Also, ARL BOD want the DFS to be based on the production metrics of the project partner(s). The technical specs tend to be overlooked by investors.
Otherwise, the DFS might just be too general, not suitably fit for purpose, and might even be a waste of time and money.

There were some recent announcements about DFS or BFS needing to be redone by jr Ni miners. What a nightmare.