Hi BigAlvin The problem is that South African coal is seen as...

Hi BigAlvin

The problem is that South African coal is seen as being of a lower quality and there fore not as good. The fact is that in South Africa domestic coal is ussally below grade when compared to other nations. But most of this lower grade coal is consumed domestically and the brown coals turned into liquid fuels. 92% of all the coal extracted in South Africa is consumed within the African continent.

Pricing on coal from South Africa is effected by supply and demand like many any other resource. Of late the country has had problems marketing its coal and being competitive in the global markets. Three months ago the buyers dropped off from buying coal through richards bay and SA coal companies, instead opting for cheaper alternatives like indonesian coal.

These factors have lead south african coal companies to be valued lower than other regions of the world. For example Mongolian coal is valued highly due to the higher occurance of better quality coals. More importantly due to its proximity to the largest importers of coal in the world, like China which is seen as having an unending appiate for coal. Especially coking coal used to fuel there ever growing steel industry.

I think this negative veiw of the region has lead south african coal companies to be valued lower than other market peers but this is just my opinion. As you say UNV is a prime example the company has some very good prospects. For example the potential of the Cygnus, Berenice and Somerville coking coal projects which have combined exploration target of some 800mt of coking coal. Off which UNV has a 70% intrest, had a similar deposit been located in mongolia i believe we would see a much large market cap as per my previous opinions.

I believe once we have confirmed numbers (measured and indicated) and understand the make up of the resource better e.g. how much of the deposit is semi soft and how much hard. I think then we will see more attention on this stock. I havent evaluated UNV's thermal projects but I have seen valuations on thermal deposits of (20c a ton) but it appears that this evaluation is to high looking at similar thermal peers. DYOR and Gl to all holders

GB