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A reminder from November.....Nasrul Hamid, MP: Thanks, honorable MP for asking a good question. I want to make response giving some information on this. There are 5 discovered coal fields in Bangladesh: Barapukuria, Phulbari, Dighipara, Khalaspir and Jamalganj. We can extract coal from Phulbari by open pit mining method. About 90% coal can be extracted removing overburden materials. Currently we are mining coal from Barapukuria at a daily rate of 1500-2000 tonnes through underground method. Many people ask me about coal mining, so I want to give this information. Honorable Speaker, I want to let all honorable MPs know through you that Dighipara is close to Barapukuria mine. We have already completed the feasibility study and found that, underground mining is feasible there. The coal to be mined from 300 meters below the surface and only 15-20% can be extracted. What I have said, open pit mining is only feasible in Phulbari. Other deposits are to be extracted by underground method.
As per RNS of 22nd March, the company has already told us it is discussions at Senior Levels of Government...to my recollection this had never been stated before.
'The Project's Proposal has been refined through discussions and presentations at senior level of Government and during this process our Bangladesh team were supported by PowerChina. A significant enhancement is the inclusion of a large-scale Solar Power Park (over 2GW possible) within the confines of the Project area, to be operated in parallel with the mining operations. The Solar Power Park would be installed in stages and it's planned that the power would be supplied to both the national grid and mining operation, also enabling the mine to become a "Net Zero Carbon Green Mine".
Beyond the reporting period, the Company entered into a Joint Development Agreement ("JDA") with PowerChina and Dyani Corporation for development of the proposed Solar Power Park (RNS Number: 0138M, 9 January 2023). The JDA is comprehensive covering financing, construction and operation of the Solar Power Park.'
Interesting read, they are so deep in the hole now and just 'firefighting'. News of a new hole coming soon to get them out of the existing ones...?
https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/c6zgxj8mbu
Here's a scenario...obviously it's just one of many....
Firstly facts: We know company is talking to Government, We know there is massive problem paying for Energy Imports, We Know there is high inflation in the country, we know the local currency has dropped in value, Foreign reserves are dwindling.
They hate to lose face, all politicians do, but in SE Asia no one does so for politicians it's even worse.
We know there is some coal imported coming and Hassina and other ministers say everything will be back to normal end of Month (on the surface with electricity it may be but the underlying problem is still there they haven't got the $ to pay for ongoing imports) so in a few weeks when things have chilled a bit the PR will be look we told you so, you can trust us, and because we are forward thinking we have decided to give the nod to mining our own coal, we said we would save it for the future well nows the time... Heroes...
Probably be a no fuss approval in cabinet which has the authority under the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act 2010, which was amended in 2021. No discussion done deal.
A month or so later there will be issues with supply again and paying for the imported coal....but they can say look it's just another blip caused by external forces we sorted it before, it may happen again but we have planned ahead and in a few years time these issues will be a thing of the past and we will be the fastest growing economy in Asia.
As stated a few days back placings don't happen overnight and this would have been getting set up over the past weeks when tbh the share price was languishing around 3p and even under, it would all have been agreed but then there was a surge in share price potentially scuppering the deal, but they decided to do it anyway. It s interesting that they only raised 500k which could be seen as an indicator there will be a lot of news before year end when they can raise more at a higher price, like Marv I bought more this morning and at 2.5 and 2.54 so I got basically at the placing price despite not being invited
You are turning up some excellent articles. That one is an overall very informative read. Hidden away towards the end was….
‘The Chinese ambassador just announced most of China’s projects are nearing completion and it’s looking for new ones’
Indeed it is Searcher. so reading that they have cosl coming to keep one plant operating for appx 4 dsys and another for 10 days…. Then what …. More coal coming…. How they going to pay for it they have only paid off a part of the outstanding bills for coal alrrady received
The Banshkhali power plant is owned and operated by the S Alam group who are huge in Bangladesh, they hold a lot of sway in political circles and I don't think they will be overly pleased about the current coal supply situation, even if they get some coal in the coming weeks, a thats big if, I suspect they are going to be saying what guarantees are there this won't be happening for the life of the plant, the only option for the government of any real control over supply if it's lifted locally .
http://www.s.alamgroupbd.com
Thanks Searcher, all I've seen in the BD press, in fact the international press, is the problem. There has been nothing but rhetoric from the politicians, the recent comment by the energy minister that everything will be back to normal in a couple of weeks was just stupid, kicking the PR can down the road by a fortnight just won't work. In a weird way the deafening lack of comment in recent weeks about using their own coal from the government makes me think they could be well into finer details of where they go from here with Phulbari, there have been several articles in the press saying they are considering 'own coal', not that long prior the Energy Minister said in Parliament that the only field ready to go was Phulbari.... then nothing but avoidance on questioning.....lots of peeved business leaders saying just mine local coal...and yet silence from the government. I don't believe they will to say anything until a deal is all but sorted, what it ends up being is another matter, could just be that they agree to mine phulbari to supply existing power stations, could be they go with 1 x 2000mw station on site and the rest goes to feed other plants, could be they go with 3 x2000mw plants , who knows but whatever it is will be way better than where we are now....noted with interest that the coal supply deal for the Payra plant stated they had to use coal sourced from Indonesia....what buffoon does these deals...bit of self interest there wouldn't surprise me. Government saying don't worry, experts saying this is going to get worse due to the financial crisis..., They need to come up with an ongoing solution for the future cos right now they are in big trouble. I am majorly in here and know some might think I have rose coloured glasses, which is a possibility, but my commitment here is such that I do lots of research, I read BD publications, have set up news alerts and discuss with other shareholders ! Investigating beyond these boards can pay dividends....all IMHO of course, good luck
Agree Marv, these things don't happen spur of the moment they also are a subject of negotiations, legal opinions etc, the price went from under 3p to over 5p that would equate to a halving of shares received if a fundraise deal had been about to happen. Personally think the ongoing funds will come in some way shape or form from Michael Tang or or through one of his pals or another Malaysian entity
"you know GCM has been sticking their oar in. you just can't say it on an RNS"
The company have already said they were in discussions, they had to issue a RNS in response to these large percentage increases saying exactly what they said....in the past when I have seen these type of RNS's for sudden increases they would say things along the lines ' The company sees no reason for the sudden rise etc etc' this doesn't it confirms why the price rose - because of reports in the press of speculation of utilising the countries own coal.
These discussions take time and they are not going to say this is where we are at as of today...they will RNs it when a milestone happens not before
Utter rubbish the locals are way in favour, company did a recent survey as discussed at AGM...wondered how long it would take for the anti coal minority lobby to turn up with their fake >>>>>
Possible but unlikely IMHO, my buys weren't done for that reason but were based on my take of info received and reading press articles and my belief we were bottoming out, there was only one unusually large trade in amongst many other 'regular' sized trades. Don't dispute there is a need for cash, it's in the company update and think it will be interesting to see where it comes from, personally think it will be in house (Michael Tang/Polo or run through another pal/associated entity) and if that is the case they would have been keeping the price down not trying to lift it. Personally think the country has no other option than to finally approve lifting the coal, it's all coming on top with the bad, probably vested interest deals. and they need a big PR push for the coming months on energy security. All the signs are there in the numerous press articles, its big news in the BD press and when you have no electricity you get very peeved off, they need hope for the future
Bangladesh’s largest power plant – Payra power plant – is likely to shut down completely by June 4, potentially worsening the power shortage problem.
The Payra plant closure means power production will fall by another 620MW. The coal shortage affects other major power plants, such as Rampal and Barishal - often forcing their operations to stop.
Notable words 'The coal shortage'
Its simple AMC assets are cash and AIM listing. AST doesnt need the AIM listing. AST only wants the cash, they are not going to give us more for the cash than its value. There is no deal of any value to AMC shareholders on the table here.
Why waste the headspace discussing AST , the offer is laughable, only an idiot would take 50p for £, no way shareholders would accept that deal and the board know it. There have been other expressions of interest, if a proper offer from a decent company comes in great if not just take the residual cash when AMC has to shutdown, the only assett here is the cash and the AIM listing. I suspect most shareholders here are sick of pie in the sky bs