Cotton & Western Mining Inc. (CWRN)

[wrongjoe]

I suspect the reason is to clearly separate the JV from other endevours that are solely controlled by CWRN (or are partnerships with other entities). The current company configuration has two major partners: Quantum and Astrolabe (which is basically a shell for the Philippine government). It's probably easier to keep the efforts entirely separate so as to reduce the risk of any confusion (read lawsuits) about what profits need to be shared with whom. I think it's the prudent thing to do.

Spinning off JV's into separate companies is a pretty common practice with small companies. If one project fails, it won't bring the other projects (and the entire company) down with it.