Like "dtr" I am also getting tired of the whinging & whining...

Like "dtr" I am also getting tired of the whinging & whining about what is a speculative stock, operating in South Africa - with all the risks well sign posted by smart people like BBB & others over the past 12 months. I always remember the words of one veteran commodities investor who reported to Forbes that in his 40 years experience, he has never seen a coal mining company complete a new mine on time. Why should Conti be any different?

I don't expect CCC to get back to 90c in a hurry, but it is certainly capable of achieving an undiluted market cap of $336m within the next 18 months. Management are now exercising more restraint with their timelines & projections, given that earlier ones were far too optimistic, esp. given the bureaucratic constraints of dealing with the DMR & other SA government agencies. Just look at how long it has taken to receive the government approvals for the transfer of the VanMag mining rights.

Here are some points from the latest AIM presentation worth considering:

- First Greenfield mine developed within 12 months of acquisition
- Acquisition of unlisted South African coal mining company Mashala Resources completed
- First export sales out of Richards Bay Coal Terminal
- Successive quarterly increases and record levels of production of thermal coal
- Initial JORC compliant coal reserves and increased measured resources
- Export off-take agreement with EDF Trading
- Expanded portfolio of producing, pre-development and exploration projects
- Executive management team and board strengthened
- Partnership with one of South Africa's most successful Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Group SIOC-CDT [with asset backing of ~$1B, and annual cash dividends of ~$60m]
- Corporate restructuring through AIM listing and share consolidation
- Joint venture agreement finalised with Korea Resources Corporation
- US$65m of bank debt funding secured from ABSA

- Balanced portfolio of assets, with existing production from two mines, development projects and long term exploration potential
- Current production of 2Mtpa providing strong revenue streams [including recently announced increase in domestic coal prices]
- Focused on delivering one new mining operation every 12 months [2012: Penumbra, 2013: DeWittekrans, 2014: Vlakplaats - 50% funded by KORES]
- High quality portfolio of advanced development and pre-production mines which will increase production significantly over the next 24 months
- World class resource base offering significant potential to grow production in the long term - current operations focused on only 3% of the total project resources
- Demonstrated ability to raise debt and equity capital to fund new exploration and mine development and deliver long term value for shareholders
- Aggressively pursuing other exploration opportunities in Africa [Kenya, Botswana, etc]
- Strategic well regarded BEE partner, adding significant value to projects in South Africa [and access to all important rail & port allocations]

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It seems as though much of this fundamentally positive news gets forgotten in the daily obsessing over the state of the share price & the trading action. I'm content to wait and see what Don Turvey & co can achieve over the next year or two - now that the foundations have been laid for a strong, and fast growing coal mining business. Thermal coal markets are certainly proving robust at the moment, and the intense activity in coal M & As shows that plenty of money is being thrown at the coal sector now.