Independent auditor's report to the members of Coal & Allied Industries Limited

Report on the financial report

We have audited the accompanying financial report of Coal & Allied Industries Limited (the company), which comprises the balance sheet as at 31 December 2008, and the income statement, statement of changes in equity and cash flow statement for the year ended on that date, a summary of significant accounting policies, other explanatory notes and the directors' declaration for both Coal & Allied Industries Limited and the Coal & Allied Industries Group (the consolidated entity). The consolidated entity comprises the company and the entities it controlled at the year's end or from time to time during the financial year.

The directors of the company are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial report in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards (including the Australian Accounting Interpretations) and the Corporations Act 2001. This responsibility includes establishing and maintaining internal controls relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of the financial report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances. In note 1(a), the directors also state, in accordance with Accounting Standard AASB 101 Presentation of Financial Statements, that compliance with the Australian equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards ensures that the financial report, comprising the financial statements and notes, complies with International Financial Reporting Standards.

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial report based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards. These Auditing Standards require that we comply with relevant ethical requirements relating to audit engagements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial report is free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial report. The procedures selected depend on the auditor's judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial report, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity's preparation and fair presentation of the financial report in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity's internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the directors, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial report.

Our procedures include reading the other information in the Annual Report to determine whether it contains any material inconsistencies with the financial report.

For further explanation of an audit, visit our website http://www.pwc.com/au/financialstatementaudit.

Our audit did not involve an analysis of the prudence of business decisions made by directors or management.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinions.
 
Independence

In conducting our audit, we have complied with the independence requirements of the Corporations Act 2001.

Auditor's opinion

In our opinion:
(a) the financial report of Coal & Allied Industries Limited is in accordance with the Corporations Act 2001, including:
(i) giving a true and fair view of the company's and consolidated entity's financial position as at 31 December 2008 and of their performance for the year ended on that date; and
(ii) complying with Australian Accounting Standards (including the Australian Accounting Interpretations) and the Corporations Regulations 2001; and
(b) the financial report also complies with International Financial Reporting Standards as disclosed in note 1(a).

Report on the Remuneration Report

We have audited the Remuneration Report included in pages 13 to 25 of the directors' report for the year ended 31 December 2008. The directors of the company are responsible for the preparation and presentation of the Remuneration Report in accordance with section 300A of the Corporations Act 2001. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Remuneration Report, based on our audit conducted in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards.

Auditor's opinion

In our opinion, the Remuneration Report of Coal & Allied Industries Limited for the year ended 31 December 2008, complies with section 300A of the Corporations Act 2001.

Matters relating to the electronic presentation of the audited financial report

This auditor's report relates to the financial report and remuneration disclosures of Coal & Allied Industries Limited (the company) for the year ended 31 December 2008 included on Coal & Allied Industries Limited web site.  The company's directors are responsible for the integrity of Coal & Allied Industries Limited web site. We have not been engaged to report on the integrity of this web site.  The auditor's report refers only to the statements and remuneration disclosures named above. It does not provide an opinion on any other information which may have been hyperlinked to/from these statements or the remuneration disclosures. If users of this report are concerned with the inherent risks arising from electronic data communications they are advised to refer to the hard copy of the audited financial report and remuneration disclosures to confirm the information included in the audited financial report and remuneration disclosures presented on this web site.

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Robert Hubbard - Partner 

27 February 2009 Brisbane