Actually no the rest of the deposit is better as that is why they said the levels where higher than expected, because the existing Maddingley mine results have already been measured historically.
Yes washing is done in the slurry state prior to the Exergen process, and blending done if required in the market place. The coal does not necessarily require washing as the ash levels are far below what is required anyway, the reason for doing it is to increase the value of the product at minimal cost.
Mantle could not announce to shareholders what the exact characteristics of the coal were prior to drilling, just as they cannot say definitively that it is better quality than the LV until they finish drilling.
Mantle did test coal from the Maddingley mine earlier as you mentioned, the trials were very successful with a final moisture content of under 10%. The bulk sample was analysed by the Exergen consortium which includes Japanese commodities trader Itochu and India’s largest private power company Tata Energy. I assume that they were happy with the coal quality if not they would not be spending roughly another half million on the project this FY.
Does this clarify things?
MNM Price at posting:
5.4¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
