If Australian governments are unwilling to grasp this very salient fact about the modern energy market there are plenty of other nations in our region who are.
One good example of this is Cokal's BBM project in Kalimantan, Indonesia.
At this point, Hogsback should remind readers that Indonesia is Australia's major competitor for the title of world's major coal exporter.
Cokal - which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange - has been diligently developing road and transport infrastructure for the BBM project and its patient shareholders are ready to reap the returns.
BBM has highly attractive margins on both spot coal prices and long-term price assumptions.
Using today's spot coal prices BBM would have a US$177 per tonne margin for coking coal and $176/t for pulverised coal injection.
Cokal chairman Domenic Martino said BBM's path to production had been expedited to capture the market for high coking coal prices.
Its development capex of $26.9 million is fully financed and mine development and operations are fully permitted.
"BBM will generate lucrative earnings for Cokal," Martino said.
"Cokal will receive 100% of BBM's initial cash flows to repay a $67.2 million debt that BBM owes to Cokal."
In Australia, there is a growing clutch of small companies that are also rewarding stakeholders and local communities with their entrepreneurship and belief in coal - despite all the barriers to coal mining development and the anti-coal rhetoric.
Earlier this year, the federal government announced the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility would provide a $175 million loan to Pembroke Resources' Olive Downs metallurgical coal project in Queensland.
The $900 million project in the Bowen Basin will support up to 700 jobs during construction and more than 500 extra jobs for the region when fully operational.
Olive Downs has a JORC reserve of 514 million tonnes of high-quality steelmaking coal.
The mine will initially operate at 4.5 million tonnes per annum before expanding to 15Mtpa capacity, with low-cost production and an estimated at 80-year mine life.
Another smaller coal company, Terracom, is forecasting revenue from its Blair Athol open cut coal mine in Queensland for the December quarter at A$210 per tonne.
"Should the forecast revenue be achieved, this will result in a forecast operating cash margin of approximately $122/t based on coal sales of 575,000 tonnes," Blair Athol said.
Meanwhile, MetRes' Millennium Mine in Queensland will export its first coal exports to Japanese steel makers before the year is out just eight months after the company bought the mine from Peabody Energy.
Hogsback reckons there is a lot of value in coal if mine management is focused enough and the government environment is conducive to mine development.
