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And this is a more recent article about Joy and the committee he is heading up…

https://www.kalerkantho.com/english/online/national/2023/02/13/49174

Yes Pappi she is, and from various news articles everyone in the area is getting quite excited by her visit ….

Could it be because her and her family have and are very active in the area?

This is from an earlier article about her son Jon and the new “economic zone”

“Since this is an agro based area, agro processing factories, light engineering, garment and textiles and pharmaceutical factories will be established here. Since iron has been discovered in Dinajpur, an iron and steel factories will also be established here.”

So this would imply that she has been working on this for sometime…. How are they going to run all this industry …. Coal needed please!!

https://en.banglatribune.com/country/news/59117/First-economic-zone-in-Rangpur-division-in

Several AL leaders involved in drafting the AL manifesto for the January 7 parliamentary election said the new manifesto is based on the party's 2022 declaration.

The 2022 declaration mentioned that the AL would take the country's power generation capacity to 40,000MW by 2030 and 60,000MW by 2041. This promise is likely to come up in the manifesto.

https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/national-election-2024/news/job-creation-curbing-graft-awami-leagues-priority-3502346

Looks like there’s still plenty of appetite to finance coal projects still ….

https://www.observerbd.com/news.php?id=452177

And then in November we have the question raised in parliament saying that "Open pit coal mining Possible at Phulbari"

maybe this has been the play all along, knowing that she could not give the green light before the election, because there will obviously be opposition to the project, so Hasina started getting the message out into the public and minsters domain so it would not be a surprise when it finally gets discussed more after the election...

If you remember this is when it was discussed in parliament

"Open pit coal mining Possible at Phulbari"

https://en.barta24.com/details/national-en/169626/open-pit-coal-mining-possible-at-phulbari

or maybe i am just reading far too much into it lol... but it does feel different this time around for soooo many reasons

Wow.... Just crazy!!

“Each day we need at least 40 million US dollars from Bangladesh Bank to meet our payment obligation. But we’re getting 5-7 million dollars a day”

https://www.daily-sun.com/post/727385

Power, energy sectors are saddled with $5 billion outstanding payment amid dollar crisis: Sources

https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/energy/power-energy-sectors-are-saddled-5-billion-outstanding-payment-amid-dollar-crisis?amp

I wonder how much longer Bangladesh will be able to import coal from India ??

https://www.argusmedia.com/pt//news/2520465-viewpoint-indias-2024-coal-import-outlook-uncertain

And again, although in the same paper!!

“It is possible to generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity for 50 years from the coal of two mines”-Engineer Saleque

https://www.tbsnews.net/multimedia/it-possible-generate-10000-megawatts-electricity-50-years-coal-two-mines-engineer-saleque

This looks to be the committee meeting that discussed Phulbari and open pit mining, and i do not believe this was not in the original article that I posted earlier in the week and has only been released today!

"On the other hand, coal from Phulbaria and Bara Pukuriya should be mined in open pit method. If this is done, it is possible to generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity with that coal for at least 50 years."

So good to see this being highlighted again!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfPOyy8CbnM

This was the link from the article earlier in the week

https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/energy/why-keep-coal-underground-while-energy-import-bill-soars-ask-experts-761542

Happy Christmas all ;)

I wonder if anyone from Bangladesh or GCM attended

"He was speaking during the 6th edition of the two-day International Conference on Opencast Mining Technology & Sustainability (ICOMS) at NCL headquarters."

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/2755394-supply-of-dry-coal-to-consumers-our-prime-concern-says-ncl

Did you mean do "Something" soon mate hahahaha

Oh Dear!!!!!

Power producers facing uncertain future!

Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are facing a financial storm. The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), which is the sole procurer of power in the country, owes Bangladesh Independent Power Producers' Association (BIPPA) around US$2.5 billion in outstanding payments. At the same time, BIPPA members are unable to procure fuel from international markets due to dollar crunch and also due to the fact that some of its members have become bank defaulters.

This was a conscious decision by the government to forgo greater exploration of domestic sources of natural fuel like gas and opt for an import-dependent energy policy.

Today, the financial state of the country is in crisis

Every nation (that is dependent on imported energy sources) around the globe has been picking up the pieces of volatile prices in the international energy markets and Bangladesh is no exception

Now that the energy sector is heavily dependent on foreign fuel, the IPPs, like other import-dependent parties of the energy sector have built up a multi-billion-dollar backlog in payment. The State is unable to pay for the power produced.

outstanding bills have now reached approximately $2.5 billion

It is now impossible for the policymakers to ignore the situation any further.

What is going to happen if IPPs reach a point where they can no longer produce power? Can the country afford to lose 40 per cent of its power? The situation is unthinkable for the policymakers.

How the State will resolve the situation is its problem.

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/columns/power-producers-facing-uncertain-future

This article shows why they can not afford to continue to import ......

Forex fears grow as mega project loans come due

https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/727033

Well someone had to say it hahahahaha

I personally believe that although charts can be a very helpful tool, in this particular case you have to be very careful to read too much into them, because news will always override any charts.

Right now, there are very few trading days left before the general election, and the increase in the SP today is mainly due to one article mentioning that OPM should be done at Phulbari, and also speculation that Hasina will mention in some form how she is going to resolve the energy crises in her election campaign, the news would indicate imo that this will include open pit mining at Phulbari. We have seen how the SP has moved today on just one news article because there are so few free float shares available. It’s obviously up to each individual how they trade, but I believe that many investors are now just holding here waiting for more substantial news from more influential people within the government or press, we all know the potential rewards here that will follow any positive comment from the government or articles and that will be a lot more than 50 / 60% like today. One thing that is a fact that we have learnt after many years of holding GCM is that it will be a lot harder to buy than it will to sell for a few percent profit if there is just a hint of positive news, (again imo) …..

I also wonder when will get the RNS to let us know that the funds from Polo have been transferred over? This should happen in the next few days and again should have a positive impact on the SP. It will have even more impact if in some way GCM are able to report that they have been able to increase the size of the load available… but this is obviously pure speculation and hope from myself more than anything else, let’s see what tomorrow brings.

GL to all in whatever you decide

Good positive day and very pleased to finally see Phulbari and Open Pit Mining finally being mentioned in the press after such a long silence...

Hopefully in the coming days there will be a few more articles and then we can finally put these silly single figures behind us once and for all... :)

Probably worth a re-post to show what has helped the rise today ...

Why keep coal underground while energy import bill soars, ask experts

At a TBS roundtable titled "Bangladesh's persistent energy crisis and solutions" on Tuesday, they emphasised tapping Bangladesh's coal reserves alongside exploring oil and gas options and simultaneously expanding the footprint of renewable energy.

"Engineer Khondkar Abdus Saleque, an international energy consultant, outlined the potential of harnessing coal from local mines for electricity generation. He stated that through open-pit mining, these coal reserves could sustain a 10,000MW power generation capacity for 50 years."

"Saleque echoed this sentiment, underscoring the detrimental impact of implementation weaknesses, inefficiencies, and, to some extent, corruption in the energy sector."

"According to him, not extracting coal from Dinajpur, leaving 70% of the land unexplored and no oil-gas exploration in offshore blocks for more than a decade was a national failure, especially when the proven gas reserve was depleting and the country massively upscaled its power generation."

"Fulbari coals are at mining depth, Bangladesh does not need its all-out efforts for clean energy while the use of coal in power generation globally is still at the 1973 level, he said, stressing coal mining for efficient power generation."

"He stressed for promoting academic programs, researches on energy alongside engaging the mass people for proper awareness."

https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/energy/why-keep-coal-underground-while-energy-import-bill-soars-ask-experts-761542

Morning WOS, yes, I do agree that GCM is high risk / very high reward. As we know this is totally reliant on AL / Hasina giving the green light for Phulbari and OPM should she win the next election. It’s not going to be a very democratic election and reading the press reports is already a foregone conclusion, so she probably will be remaining in power, which for a change is imo a positive for GCM.

As for timelines we have been saying for years that this is going to be our year, obviously so far Hasina has stuck her heels in and rejected giving the green light for OPM saying she wanted to keep the resource for future generations, BUT things feel very different now, and I am actually more positive than ever that Bangladesh are running out of ideas, time and money to supply the country with imported energy, and therefore will have no choice but to give the green light to use their own resources, although the SP would not let us believe that atm.

We all know again from all the press reports the state of the energy, Forex and Dollar situation, and in truth, I honestly can not see how they can continue to import their energy as they are now, they simply cannot afford it imo, and I am sure that all the loans that they are being given will not be able to be spent on fuel import knowing that they have their own resources available!!!!

Hasina will still have opposition to giving the go ahead which is why I believe she has not given the green light before the election, but once the election is over and has been re-elected I believe that Phulbari will be a high priority, as for upside, so much depends on how the final deal is done and what percentages go where, BUT for sure what ever deal is struck the SP will be a lot higher than 2p imho …..

Sorry for running on but I think that gives my opinion to the questions you ask. lol

Morning MUD, yes you are right, but there is going to be caution at the moment, obviously it’s frustrating that it’s not been sorted already, but once we get the confirmation that the funds have been transferred over from Polo hopefully things will hopefully change.

This is the first time for a while that I have seen Phulbari and Open Pit Mining mentioned in the press for a while so hopefully now as the election draws to a conclusion we will see it more, and by more influential people as well as government ministers…