RE:May 1st! Agree the FS will be a key milestone and I'm quite certain TLG will take the JV route as opposed to a buyout. In fact, as mentioned in a previous post, it would be a good idea to announce the DFS and the JV agreement simultaneously as a major de-risking event will be presented right off the bat to ally some of the concern about the amount of money needed to be raised for the mine build. I suspect both TLG Board / Management personnel and that of any potential JV partners are in a blackout period where they are prohibited from buying or selling shares until after the process is completed and the decisions are released to the public.
Pre-FS drilling and assaying are much cheaper and easier to execute than post-FS work. That's why a lot of companies just stick with drilling and producing assay results for years on end. Smart of TLG to contnue to drill until they have produced an attractive MRE. The FS will show what portion of those ounces will be estimated to be ecnomically mineable (P&P reserves) along with all the other estimates that are key to evaluating the project at this point in the process. As mentioned, I think it would be wise to allow the JV partner to be heavily involved in the mine build itself as I have my doubts that JR can effectively bring this project to first pour on time and on budget (like for example, ARTG's management has accomplished to date).
The market is much more forgiving re. delays pre-financing / contracting / permitting than they are once the FS is out, so I suspect TLG shareholders will feel the implications of any significant delays in the expected timeline to first pour re. reduced share price as time is money during the post-FS process. Of course, the tradeoff is, the more money / work the JV partner has agreed to put into the project, the lower the % ownership of the project TLG shareholders will possess. Regardless of whether it's a 50/50 partnership or otherwise, the key will be the details as to how much money the JV partner will contribute to the project and the times during the process when the portions of the total cash contrubution will be made vs. the money TLG is responsible for providing along with who does what from that point to first pour.