Cougar’s UCG is the same as LNC’s UCG. Michael Blinderman did his UCG training at Yerostigaz. LNC now owns the controlling stake in Yerostigaz. Michael Blinderman from Ergo Exergy did the trial burn at Chinchilla. I am comfortable that Chinchilla has been confirmed as a site that will safely sustain UCG. I have been assured by the SASOL Engineers that LNC’s demo plant will produce diesel. Beyond that, I think there will be issues. I am comfortable that both the State and Federal Governments support LNC and that they are feeling pressure to reduce oil imports and reduce the cost of living. I am comfortable that Peter Bond can convince US companies to invest in LNC. The trial burn at Kingaroy is yet to be conducted. People keep saying that Kingaroy and Chinchilla are right next to each other so there is no risk. Kingaroy is about 150 kms from Chinchilla. The area around Chinchilla is like a Billiard table. Kingaroy is on the edge of the Great Dividing Range. Who knows what will happen when the match is lit? To dismiss the technical risks is misleading. Then there are project risks. Does CXY have approval to build the power station at Kingaroy? The Federal government has recently introduced an ETS and mandated that 20% of power will come from renewable sources. Existing coal fired power stations have been given free permits to reduce the costs of the ETS but nothing for new entrants and at this stage, nothing for gas. This presents a barrier for new players that are not renewable energy companies. 1000MW of gas fired power stations have recently been commissioned on the Darling Downs and another 3000MW is in the pipeline. Is Kingaroy part of that? There are windfarms and geothermal stations being built. The free permits to coal fired power stations will ensure they aren’t shutting down any time soon. How much more power do we need?
The reason I am still holding LNC is because LNC has a major milestone coming up. Success will see it shoot through the roof, failure will see it fall like a stone, hence my sentiment of Light Buy. LNC’s share price is not being determined by investors in Australia now, it is being determined by the investors in the US.
James99,
Whilst some UCG operations have lead to commercial chemical operations, how many have actually lead to a commercial power station? Angrenskaya. What others are there? Why has there not been more power stations built from anymore than 1 UCG trial when there has been well over 50 trials conducted so far?
CXY Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held