Greenvale is beefing up its renewable energy portfolio with the acquisition of privately held geothermal company Within Energy that has three tenure applications in Queensland.

These applications are conveniently located close to major commercial and industrial centres near Brisbane, Maryborough and Gladstone where Within Energy intends to use Binary Cycle Systems technology, which enables energy production from lower temperature geothermal reservoirs.

This neatly addresses historical attempts at geothermal energy in Australia that had failed due to the targeting of deep, high-temperature geothermal reservoirs that could only be found in remote areas and required overly expensive wells to reach depths greater than 3,000m.

Greenvale Mining (ASX:GRV) will acquire an initial 51% controlling interest in Within Energy with the option to increase its ownership to 100% in line with agreed milestones.

Within’s multi-disciplinary team of specialists in the energy and oil and gas sectors – including its highly regard chief executive officer Adam Stepanoff – will also join the company’s executive team.

The company also expects the acquisition to provide a clear pathway towards permitting and developing its flagship Alpha Torbanite project in Central Queensland, which seeks to produce high-value bitumen, light crude oil and activated carbon from high-grade oil shale deposits.

Concurrently, the company has decided to accept an offer from Astro Resources (ASX:ARO) to acquire an 80% stake in its Georgina Basin IOCG Project in the Northern Territory, reflecting its streamlined focus on Alpha and its renewable energy strategy.

In line with this focus on energy production, Greenvale will seek shareholder approval to change its name to Greenvale Energy.

Within Energy and baseload renewable energy

Within Energy was established in 2021 to establish geothermal energy production – one of the main sources of baseload renewable power – in Queensland and across Australia.

It has invested significantly in uncovering exploitable geothermal sources in Queensland, with three exploration permits covering about 11,000km2 currently under application.

The company seeks to generate geothermal power through the use of proven Binary Cycle Systems, improvements of which allow the use of lower temperature reservoir water (between 100 and 120 degrees Celsius) and a heat exchanger process to operate a turbine in a closed loop.

This technology has been successfully applied around the world, with over 150 binary cycle geothermal plants in production globally, and can significantly reduce initial capital costs associated with exploiting source systems.

Additionally, the targeting of exploration areas close to major commercial and industrial centres reduces transmission distance to the established power grid and provides ample access to accommodation and a potential workforce.

Fast-tracking potential carbon offset bitumen

With geothermal energy being potentially eligible for both carbon credits and renewable energy certificates, Greenvale also sees the acquisition as providing a path to fast-tracking its Alpha project.

The company had previously made applications to the Queensland Department of Resources for four geothermal licences (and corresponding mineral rights) as part of an enhanced renewable energy strategy.

It believes that with Within Energy’s expertise on hand, an exploitable and economic geothermal power source will provide sufficient carbon credits to offset future production at Alpha – effectively making it a carbon offset source of torbanite supply.

This will also provide additional income streams from power generation and the sale of surplus Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).

Transaction details

Greenvale will issue 3 million GRV shares with shareholder approval to acquire the initial stake in Within Energy while the remaining 49% will be acquired in three tranches upon milestones, being the successful grant of each of the individual specified EPG Project areas.

If all areas proceed to grant, the total consideration for the transaction will be 50 million GRV shares.

Greenvale directors to join Astro

As part of the deal with Astro, Greenvale Directors Neil Biddle and Tony Leibowitz are set to join the Astro Board, with key Greenvale operational staff including CEO Matt Healy.

This will allow them to oversee ongoing exploration at the exciting Georgina Basin IOCG project in the NT, as well as contribute their significant lithium industry experience to a new highly prospective lithium project which Astro has secured in the USA.

Astro announced separately today that it had secured a number of lithium claims in the Kibby Basin, Nevada, a region which hosts numerous major lithium clay projects including Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge project.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Greenvale Mining, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.