Looking back at the original announcement of the RIO JV in...

Looking back at the original announcement of the RIO JV in October 3015, I note:

AZY was the operator for the first 18 months - stage 1.
RIO was to be the operator for stage 2 (next 3 years) and for the balance of time it is sole funding exploration expenditure.

The program just announced for the year ahead is the third year of Stage 2. Haven't checked the maths but presumably the $3.4m will mean RIO will meet the $8m exploration spend to earn a 51% interest in a JV. At present RIO has a 0% interest.

At the end of stage 2 RIO has 2 options:
It can elect to go to stage 3 and sole fund $14m in exploration over 3 years to increase its share in the JV to 65%.

Or it can elect to remain at 51%, AZY at 49%, and both parties will thereafter contribute to JV expenditure in accordance with their respective interests.

I agree a benefit of AZY being the operator may be more timely news updates.

Still the question remains why AZY has taken over as operator esp with RIO set up with its adjacent operations nearby at Winu.