Colonial Coal: a great maiden resource estimate at Flatbed, but the market doesn't care

Back in November, Colonial Coal (CAD.V) released the long-awaited maiden resource estimate for its Flatbed coal project in British Columbia. This initial resource unveiled a total resource of 298 million tonnes in 8 different coal seams and was based on a mining width of at least 1 meter without going deeper than 900 meters from surface. The average (true) width of the seams ranges between 1.2 and 5.3 meters for a total true thickness of 20.9 meters from a vertical point of view. The 298 million tonnes appears to be much better than the original resource target of 100 million tonnes of coking coal.

Colonial Coal also released the results of the washability tests and ended up with a product with an average ash content of just 8-9%, which is pretty good (and within the 10% limit for quality coal). The total moisture level also remains below the 10% (less than 1% according to the studies) whilst the sulfur level general stays below 0.5% for the deeper seams although the air dried basis sulfur grade of the upper 3 seams remains higher than 0.9% which exceeds the usual criteria (although the excellent ash and moisture results could compensate for the sulfur levels).

CEO David Austin has sold his previous coal focused companies and very likely isn't interested in developing and mining the Flatbed (and larger Huguenot) property himself and would probably be interested in a 'clean exit' through an M&A deal.