a interesting read, page-2

also interesting that this guy was added as a director of exergen in July this year:

http://www.csiro.au/people/David.Brockway.html

'Background
In his role as Chief, Dr Brockway led CSIRO Energy Technology staff of around 200 people.
He has lead research into:

Clean coal technologies including: coal combustion, gasification, gas processing, separation and sequestration
renewables and hydrogen including: solar thermal processes, natural gas reforming and shifting and new energy conversion materials.

Dr Brockway engages in frequent consultations and briefings with Federal Ministers, State Ministers, Shadow Ministers and parliamentarians, appearing and also providing written submissions to enquiries, committees and review panels before government.'

Dr Brockway's impeccable CV and A grade Govt contacts will be very handy when exergen takes the inevitable steps to seek a $50 million development grant from the Victorian and Federal Governments to build the CHTD demo plant on MNM's tenements at BM. His appointment as a director of exergen suggests that process has probably been underway since July.

This also links up with the recent rumour that the $150 million State and Federal Govt grants earmarked for the HRL coal project may be diverted to MNM/exergen to get BM off the ground.

Given HRL has what looks like fatal problems with the EPA, and can't finance the rest of the $1.1 billion project, this story looks a whole lot more credible when you consider why Dr Brockway may have been appointed as a director of exergen.

Here's a quick history of the exergen plan so far, with links that flesh out the steps taken. Dr. Brockways appointment may be the final link in the CHTD commercialisation plan that has been unfolding neatly for nearly 4 years :

In 2008 India's largest company Tata buys into exergen, and agrees to provide the key 8 m/tpa offtake for the coal produced by the CHTD process to use in their electricity generation business, Tata Power:

( http://www.tata.com/media/reports/inside.aspx?artid=WzxxLqtrmOY= )

Also in 2008 leading Australian coal infrastructure players, Sedgman and Thiess, get involved as cornerstone investors, no doubt with a view to building the CHTD plants here and overseas:

( http://www.sedgman.com/announcements/31/FINAL_Exergen_Investment_02052008.pdf );

Also in 2008 Ian Kramer leaves his role as the long time exergen project manager (as a seconded coal engineer from Thiess) to become the MD of MNM:

( http://www.mantlemining.com/files/announcements/560790.pdf )

the extent of IK's role at exergen before he joined MNM is shown here:

( http://www.minerals.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/25202/Kraemer,_Ian.pdf )

Once at MNM IK sets about pegging nealry 1000 sq/km of prime brown coal land in Victoria at BM and near the LV. The combined lignite resource is likely to be approx. 5 billion tonnes;

In 2009 $50 billion MC Japanese trading house itochu joins in:

( http://www.theage.com.au/business/1bn-at-risk-if-state-does-not-release-coal-20090523-bigm.html )

In December 2010 mnm and exergen sign a binding pre-JVA to develop BM's 2 billion tonnes of brown coal into a 12 m/tpa export project using exergen's CHTD process:

http://www.mantlemining.com/files/announcements/924468.pdf

And finally in July 2011 Dr. Brockway gets recruited to help with the Government wrangling that will be required to secure the maximum cash and concessions possible to propel to CHTD project at the lowest net cost to the exergen backers.

MNM remains the only source open to exergen for the 30 year+ supply of upgradeable Victorian coal they need to make a 12 m/tpa scale CHTD plant viable.

Of course the cynics may be right, and the whole proposed mnm/exergen JV may be a smoke and mirrors job. But it is a hell of a lot of money, planning and effort to expend for no result, and the guys behind exergen have quite a track record of getting things done.

(http://www.exergen.com.au/exergen_keypeople_directors.html)

If exergen seriously want to meet their 2014 export target on Victorian brown coal then they have no real choice but to formalise their marriage with MNM immediately after the BM JORC and suitability tests are known.

We will soon know how serious they are.

DYOR