1. coaltrader.com.au 3.4.24 provided the full AFR "Street Talk"...

1. coaltrader.com.au 3.4.24 provided the full AFR "Street Talk" 2.4.24 article, by S. Thompson et al.

AFR's Thompson said the 20% stake in Blackwater has attracted "indicative bids" of c. US $500m- as the bidders want a discount on Blackwater's 100% true (?) value- stated by "sources" of "more than US $2.5b".

"Whitehaven has not publicly disclosed Blackwater’s valuation, but sources suggest the mine is worth more (my emphasis) than $US2.5 billion. That implies a 20 per cent stake would be worth around $US500 million. The bidders are expected to push for a discount, given they won’t have a controlling stake. The mine is Bowen Basin’s No. 2 open-cut met coal producer, with plans to produce an average of 14.8 million tonnes of saleable met coal annually for the next five years".

Bidder field narrows for Whitehaven’s selldown at Blackwater coal mine - The Coal Trader

Other expert commentators are saying the expected, final 20% sale price will be c. US $1bn...time will tell.




2. IMO, I assume the BW bidders will present initial, "low ball" bids- but will be under much pressure to significantly increase their bids. Opportunities to obtain a 20% ownership of a large, good quality met coal mine, with many years of production, rarely occur. Japan & India etc. seek baseload, cheap, reliable, much touted "energy security" from a reliable Tier 1 country supplier. Renewables are unable to deliver this.

WHC is not a desperate seller- it is able to "comfortably" pay off its loans (initially expected to take 3 years, but now probably longer, due to recent met coal price falls). Why forego 20% of future profits to a 20% "low balling" part owner?

The world demand for electricity is growing very strongly. I, & others here, have posted several links previously on the huge boom in electricity use in many developing countries, partly because their growing middle class yearn home, office, & shop etc. air conditioners = major growth in electricty demand.

Furthermore, the undeniable future boom in AI will also cause the concomitant Data Centres to vastly increase their own electricity demand, to dizzying levels. This is causing already concerns re their anticipated explosion in CO 2 emissions.

scientificamerican.com 13.10.23 L. Leffer said

"Around the globe, data centers currently account for about1 to 1.5 percent of global electricity use, according to the International Energy Agency. And the world’s still-exploding boom in artificial intelligence could drive that number up a lot—and fast.

Researchers have been raising general alarms aboutAI’s hefty energy requirementsover the past few months. But a peer-reviewed analysis published this week inJouleis one of the first to quantify the demand that is quickly materializing. A continuation of the current trends in AI capacity and adoption are set to lead to NVIDIA shipping 1.5 million AI server units per year by 2027. These 1.5 million servers, running at full capacity, wouldconsume at least 85.4 terawatt-hours of electricity annually—more than what many small countries use in a year, according to the new assessment.

The AI Boom Could Use a Shocking Amount of Electricity | Scientific American