so what has really changed?

The 1.5mw shutdown tells us that operating costs are greater than about 600,000 per annum which is no surprise. Site salaries alone would likely far exceed that (about double?). Plus the cost of trucking produced wastewater off site for disposal plus miscellaneous maintenance costs. My guess is about $2 million plus per annum which would mean an annual operating loss of about $1.2 million whilst waiting for approval to ramp up to 5mw. If these numbers are in the right ballpark generating 5MW would also likely run at an operating loss (especially considering that it would generate more wastewater than 1.5mw). If correct this would indicate that the initial commercial development mentioned in cnx ann. would need to be somewhat larger and suggests that we will probably not see anything operating short of the proposed 30mw plant unless end users demand further proof of concept before investing.

I think that provided that Antafagasta accepts that what has been done to date at BC is sufficient to proceed to a commercial scale development then it makes sense to minimise short term costs at BC and to use the money elsewhere. I would expect that cnx has consulted with Antafagasta re its requirements concerning proof of concept.

CNX has had its coal tenements for some time and it makes sense to see what we may have in the way of a saleable resource. I would expect that the strategic review covered funding options rather than relying solely upon a coal resource that may or may not have any real value. I'm sure that there are a number of commercial possibilities that could apply to Chile and elsewhere. If cnx were to rely upon its partners to fund the front end of any development it goes without saying that the returns to cnx from such an arrangement would be quite limited in the medium term. At least it would be a starting point for real revenue generation. If the company finds that it can and does realise a coal resource then clearly it would accelerate growth of the company.

I do wonder where Incitec Pivot stands with respect to BC, the company having stated that it is searching for partners for both Australia and elsewhere. And what has happened to Arcadia, its partner for a 25mw popwer station?

It is unclear whether prospective partners are in fact beating a path to the cnx door. If this were the case cnx would be in the enviable position of choosing rather than searching. I can only hope that Antafagasta is still committed to UCG, its present project and cnx. The announcement of a major project at Mulpun would certainly be a welcome boost to cnx even though the revenues to cnx from initial development would seem to be relatively modest.

Some Saturday morning musings only. Now for something productive.

Good luck to all holders
Temp