That is a question which has an interesting answer, but it is also a question which ought to have everybody in the Australian coal industry saying something along the lines of, “Wow, if they could do it, why can’t we”

The “they” in the case of Allied Mining & Processing is a really a “he”, because it was the corporate vehicle chosen by Andrew Forrest, Australia’s second richest person, to create the business now known as Fortescue Metals Group.

It was from a true penny dreadful with a market value of less than $A10 million that emerged a business valued at $15 billion, elevating Forrest to the status of a $5 billion man.

He turned a tiny stock into an iron ore mining giant in such a short time that most outside observers, including many critics of Forrest’s headline grabbing style, failed to recognise what he was doing, or the way in which he had “seized the day” and seized an opportunity from under the noses of bigger rivals.

Is history repeating itself in the coal industry, a question which The Hog thinks might have “yes” as an answer because much of what Nathan Tinkler is doing has Forrest written all over it.

Just as in 2003, when Forrest started to assemble a small team of iron ore experts and was acquiring assets that the big boys of mining had ignored, Tinkler is doing much the same with coal.

There are variations, of course. Iron ore and coal are different products which require different mining and marketing techniques.

But once you cut through the differences, you see a classic bulk commodity which requires big thinking when it comes to transport logistics and other infrastructure assets.

Laying the foundations for a big new Australian coal company, independent of the diversified mining majors such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Anglo American, is what Tinkler appears to be doing with his recent whirlwind of corporate deals.

While other outsiders cannot yet see the shape of what Tinkler is creating, The Hog reckons he can see the broad outline of a coal-coloured mirror image of Fortescue Metals Group.

In effect, and with multiple variations, Tinkler is aiming to become the “new force” in Australian coal, just as Forrest marketed himself (via Fortescue) as the “third force” in Australian iron ore.

At this stage, Tinkler appears on track to become the fifth or sixth force in Australian coal, a potential achievement of enormous significance because right now the company with which he is most closely associated, Aston Resources, isn’t mining anything – much like Forrest back in 2003.

But, if you tick off the deal flow of the past few weeks, a pattern can be seen which could be laid over the Fortescue iron ore template to produce a coal lookalike.

In mid-November, Tinkler played a role in stirring up the board of a coal minnow, Coalworks, a company which partners him in the Ferndale coal project, and has the Vickery South project near Aston’s emerging Maules Creek mine.

A few days later, he dramatically overhauled the board of Aston, replacing the chief executive with Peter Kane, who was then head of Tinkler’s primary private company, Boardwalk Resources, a deal which triggered speculation that Boardwalk itself could be floated on the stock exchange.

While the corporate games were being played, Tinkler made a series of moves to secure greater access to the most critical aspect of all bulk commodities, port and rail services – another step with echoes of Forrest and his bold move of building his own rail and port facilities in WA’s Pilbara region.

And last week, Tinkler took his biggest corporate step yet when he proposed a so-called “merger of equals” with Whitehaven Coal.

There is no guarantee the merger will work, but if it does two companies currently valued at a collective $5 billion will emerge – Whitehaven is capitalised on the ASX at $2.8 billion, and Aston $2 billion.

In one step, the 73rd biggest company on the ASX and the 89th biggest company come together to create the 44th biggest – which is roughly where $5 billion puts a merged Whitehaven/Aston.

If The Hog had not watched the emergence of Fortescue under the dynamic leadership of Forrest, it is unlikely he would be seeing the pattern emerging.

However, it seems pretty certain the Forrest pattern is being repeated under the bulldozer skills of Tinkler, who has spotted an opportunity to create a world scale, independent, Australian coal stock which will offer investors a pure coal play separate from the diversified majors who offer an investment clouded with other commodities.

Interestingly, if the Whitehaven/Aston deal happens, the merged company with its theoretical $5 billion value would be almost exactly the size of the recently acquired Macarthur Coal, and the current pure-play coal leader on the ASX, New Hope, which is offering itself for sale.

If/when the latest crop of deals are done, Tinkler will indeed be the new force of Australian coal, just as Forrest became the new force of iron ore.

Lightning might not strike twice in the same spot, but history certainly repeats itself.