Calls For New Brown Coal Projects, page-6

I think there's a nice little area that's easily identifiable if you compare where Gerry is standing to their larger map which perhaps would suit us?





Coal Energy Australia is a Private Company so I don't know if their deal involves taking over the entire site but if it did, maybe they'd be interested in independent talks? That’s why in my chardonnay-induced excitement last night I was hoping their plant had similarities to ours (thank you @jantimot and @Scarpa) so we could perhaps do a sweetheart deal because, in the absence of the PFD and announcements, I’ve got serious concerns about our funding for this project.

As a side issue @PASBOZ I’m not really interested in how Coal Energy Australia are going to fund their plant (they’re private so who knows what money they have at their disposal) but I believe your 80-100 million is wrong and it is more like 143 million. @Cbrad from my understanding, as well as key environmental and planning approvals, they were also on hold awaiting a ruling on the company's eligibility for significant tax offsets. I suspect they’ve been successful, if articles are now appearing in The Age less than 24 hours ago saying “Instead, it is expected the coal would be considered for hydrogen and fertiliser” - a low emission pyrolysis plant, including ammonium sulphate fertiliser/soil conditioner and the exploration of the production of hydrogen is exactly what CEA is all about.

As @jantimot rightly pointed out the scale of the Coal Energy project is vastly bigger than GPP's and the cost of their project does highlight to me that our plant costing (@eugened?) of 7-10 million (speculative without the damn PFD!) makes us tiny when compared to the realities of Yallourn North site size. What the Latrobe Valley needs is employment in the region and I suspect the article highlighted by both @Thatsoldmate and @Frazerrg shows that Victoria is "open for business" and desperate for new brown coal projects that will create jobs. Remember, the other two projects that fell over were worth $84 million and $119 million, so as much as I love the OHD concept, we are the equivalent of hobby farm size in terms of what I think the Government will consider our impact can be in the region. That said I do believe the urgency to do something could actually bode well for us.

Remember in the 2016 Annual Report it says “In order to develop the project Greenpower will need to raise finance and or issue equity to provide sufficient funding to build the pilot plant.” At this point, there seem to be only two ways that they’re going to get their funding - through a CR (Patterson's already raised 2.5 m ish?) or money from a third party (e.g. grant/JV).

@fooca, I don’t care about messy . Maybe I am just overly suspicious but I wonder why a Company that has spent the past 8 years investigating 4 direct coal to liquids projects and then OHD; decided in September 2016 to jump into the lithium sphere (and, especially one whose mission is to become a producer of environmentally friendly energy and chemicals, that nasty REE with its serious environmental consequences if not properly managed)? I’m starting to think that you’re right @apkjm that we may be just looking to flip the lithium - but, because it might be the only way we can get this 8 year coal focus off the ground?

One last point, it’s not just paying for the plant that we have to consider. Again from the 2016 Annual Report “ The Group needs to demonstrate the process works at a commercial scale which necessitates the building of a pilot plant. [Only then will be able to] ...carry on a profitable commercial business selling the liquid so produced.”

Naturally again all of this is just my ridiculous ramblings ^{(patent 81)}so feel free to vehemently disagree. In fact, I enjoy watching the exchanges, (even when it is numbers I still don’t understand @Davey boy and @jantimot) because it helps me appreciate the complexities of the project and the possible reasons for the delays in the PFS (if you exclude my conspiracy theory above).

The only thing that is fact is that we’re ALL speculating in the absence of announcements and solid numbers - but I’d be wanting to be see something very, very soon because I’m fast becoming impatient.