dott,It is very important to get large tonnages in the inferred...

dott,

It is very important to get large tonnages in the inferred category for coal explorers. A 300m resource in inferred category does not by any means support a big operation for the next 30 years nor does a 1.5b resource without further drilling.

You can have as much inferred resource as you like but in the end shareholders, financiers, investors/JV's want to see indicated and/or measured/marketable resource. The latter resource basically confirms geological and grade continuity of coal and in turn economic.

With regard to not understanding why some smaller companies try to prove up 2-3bt resources I can say this. There is much more chance of getting an indicated or measured resource of sizable/economic quantity from a 2-3bt inferred resource than a 300mt inferred resource from the same sized area over say a 10 to 20 year operation.

So it's not about planning out the next 100 years.

It's really all about proving up the resource to a high level of confidence and having access to funds to do it with.

No funds, no drilling, no results. No results, no investors.

:)
Nic