1. We have written much recently on the dichotomy between the economic futures of the Western and Emerging worlds. In truth, nobody can reliably predict the outcome in the Euro Zone, for instance, but we think one thing will remain constant throughout the world - the need for access to reliable and affordable electricity.   

The future "mix" of energy will no doubt take many forms and not be dominated by one source. Coal has been a reliable generator of electricity for decades due to a number of factors including its energy density and ubiquity in the earth's crust. 

2. During a recent trip to Europe with Zimtu Capital to meet with institutional investors, Chris sat down with freelance journalist Lars Schall with Matterhorn Asset Management to discuss a wide range of topics including the future for gold and silver, the state of the rare earth space, his bullishness on potash, as well as a number of thoughts on various geopolitical topics.  Coal:

With that in mind, we offer our latest research report on an emerging coal exploration story in an emerging part of the world: Challenger Deep Resources (CDE:TSXV).

CDE is focused on exploration of high quality thermal coal in Indonesia for export to other Asian countries and Management has demonstrated the ability to achieve success with this business model by putting together coal resources in other parts of the world (Mongolia).   

The report can be viewed here: http://house-mountain.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/12/CDE-Research-Report.pdf

The interview with Lars Schall with Matterhorn Asset Management
can be found here:

http://goldswitzerland.com/index.php/general-commentary/