agl - latrobe valley, page-6

This is an older article that some people may have not seen.
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Mantle still keen on brown coal

Peter Ker July 11, 2011

HIS mind is focused on Victoria's brown coal deposits, but that doesn't mean Ian Kraemer's head is stuck in the sand.

The managing director of Mantle Mining is acutely aware that the legislative tide in Australia is turning against carbon-intensive industries.

But he sees no reason why a carbon tax in Australia should deter him from pursuing new brown coal deposits in the Victorian countryside.

''Coal is not going to stop being used just because of political decisions in Australia,'' he said.

''There is a bigger world outside Australia that we can't control, and China and India are going to suck as much coal and uranium and everything else to supply the energy they need.''

It's been a busy year for Mantle, which won a LaTrobe Valley coal exploration licence in May and is in the box seat to win another near the western Victorian town of Deans Marsh.

Despite its reputation as the dirty cousin of the coal family, brown coal is the target of these diggings, which Mantle hopes can sustain an export industry to India.

At a time when a carbon tax is supposed to be deterring investment in coal, Mr Kraemer believes the reforms will ultimately serve his company's interests, particularly if their goal of treating coal to reduce its emissions can be proven commercially.

Mantle is confident it has access to the technology that can dewater brown coal and reduce it back to the emissions profiles typically seen in black coal and natural gas.

Under this plan, Mr Kraemer reckons the abundant, cheap and accessible supplies of coal underneath Victoria will become very fashionable.

''Mantle has taken the opportunity to get ahead of the game because we think the upside is in brown coal because it's the one that can be transformed,'' he said."

http://m.smh.com.au/business/mantle-still-keen-on-brown-coal-20110710-1h8w1.html