Linc saw the writing on the wall years ago. CNX didn't have...

Linc saw the writing on the wall years ago. CNX didn't have alternative overseas resources to spurn Queensland at that stage, but things are different now.

The Quarterly Report is a good read for those that haven't seen it. The Chile project is not theoretical - site works are happening now, and there should be some good announcements about completion of above-ground plant later in the year.

The Quarterly Report also contained two other interesting pieces of info - that the company won't be proceeding with further expansions at Bloodwood Creek until the Qld Government can provide tenure certainty, and CNX's first overseas office will be opening in July in Wyoming. Seem that CNX, like Linc, has seen the writing on the wall. Smart move IMO.

At this stage, they lose nothing from refocusing attention away from Qld to their other coal resources. The new United States office in particular should help focus investors on the activities CNX is conducting elsewhere. JORDC compliance for the new resources later this year will also help a great deal too - the 2 billion-odd tonnes they are understood to contain don't have bankable value until that happens.

Cornerstone investors Incitec Pivot and Pacific Road would have known all this when they bought another $20M worth of shares in the mid-30's a month or two ago. They are playing a longer game and presumably forsee an SP considerably higher than at present.

In 12 months time, all going well, CNX will have been successfully running a trial plant feeding electricity to the grid with multi-panel operation under the strictest regulatory supervision imaginable. They will have more than trebled there reportable coal resources. The Indian Government may have awarded them more. They will have one or more overseas offices. They will be approaching commissioning of their second power plant project in Chile.

If all this happens - and there's no reason I can see that it shouldn't - the question of whether the Qld Government supports expansion at Bloodwood Ck will be neither here nor there.