Lignite won out of the ground for just under $1 per tonne is a...

Lignite won out of the ground for just under $1 per tonne is a commercial point that is often overlooked PAZBOZ.

The money is not made in mining dirt & brown coal.

Lignite mines are not the money makers.

But if companies with commercially sound techs can value add and CO2 offset, they will be the dollar spinners.

Brown coal mining is a skinny operation at the best of times and barely nets pennies per tonne, but Coldry or any other viable bce for that matter, will net tens of dollars per tonne

It makes sound commercial sense setting up shop where the cheap raw materials for all techs and cheap low grade heat sources from all beneficial enterprises , are commercially, available and commercially viable.

Briquetting has not proved to be viable as time goes by.

Most briquetting type brown coal manufacturing has closed over the past 100 yrs of LV brown coal mining.

In fact, there is a closed briquette facility right next door to LY power station.....

Briquettes are expensive to produce and will be carbon taxed out of existence over time. BM fertilizer mine must find $12m when the new tax comes in too. Will that mean the closure of Maddingley No2 at BM ? It appears imminent under the current Carbon tax modelling, and would be another prudent reason for esi to move away from Maddingley and into the Latrobe Valley.