TMK’s Gurvantes project stands tall against global CSG peers

Analysis of exploration carried out at TMK’s Gurvantes XXXV CSG project indicates that it compares very favourably with existing producing coal seam gas fields around the world.

Final gas content work on desorption samples taken from the Snow Leopard-2 and 3 wells returned high gas contents averaging 9.5 cubic metres per tonne and 9.8m3/t respectively, which is particularly notable when considering the relatively shallow depths – ranging from 170m to 300m – that the samples were obtained.

Meanwhile, gas saturation of the coal seams intersected in Snow Leopard-1 were found to average about 84%, a sign that gas production will occur soon after the well is brought online and de-watered while also increasing overall gas recovery.

TMK Energy’s (ASX:TMK) petrography studies also found that Gurvantes coal has a High Volatile Bituminous rank, which combined with coal quality data, indicates that the formation is in the ideal range for type, quality and rank for CSG projects.

“Notwithstanding recent operational challenges, the results from the exploration continue to exceed expectations with the key technical parameters being as good if not better than existing developed CSG projects around the world,” chief executive officer Brendan Stats said.

“It is rare to get a combination of thick shallow coal with high gas content and high permeability, which is why the results to date are exceptional.

“These parameters suggest the initial development will be relatively simple, consisting of cheap shallow vertical wells in the first instance, with the deeper coal seams to be targeted later in the project development phase.

“We continue to work towards our target of completing the initial exploration program, booking an initial contingent resource and progressing to the pilot well program stage before the end of 2022.”

Current work

TMK is currently drilling Snow Leopard-4 well, the fourth and final well in its current program, about 6km to the east of Snow Leopard-03R.

Snow Leopard-4 has a planned total depth of 350m and will target the same coal formations which were successfully intersected in the earlier wells though it is aimed specifically at the lower coal seam that is projected to be shallower in this location.

The company is also redrilling Snow Leopard-3 (SL-03R) in order to intersect the lower coal seam at this location.

This article was developed in collaboration with TMK Energy, 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.