one to watch as olympic dam comes into focus

The potential there to power this huge project from renewable energy. fropm latest ann...


Green Rock also has the 100%-owned Olympic Dam Geothermal Energy Project
comprising nearly 3,000 sq kms of geothermal tenements surrounding BHP
Billiton’s Olympic Dam mine. As you’ve just alluded to, one of the next steps
you had planned there was to complete a mini-fracture stimulation program. Can
you explain the objectives and timing of that program?
MD Adrian Larking
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is
currently conducting preliminary analyses of the data, collected from our Blanche
No 1 exploratory well we drilled to 1,935 metres deep last year only a few
kilometres from the Olympic Dam mine. This information is in preparation for
our mini-fracture stimulation in Blanche No 1, which is scheduled for around July
this year.
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The mini-fracture stimulation program will involve injecting water into that well
at various depths to generate fractures in the hot granite. The information
obtained will provide details about the geological stress conditions at depth which
will be used to design both our deep wells and the fracture stimulation program to
establish a water circulation system between the wells to recover heat from the hot
granites. Success with this will set Green Rock on the path to achieving
generation of electricity on a large scale at our Olympic Dam tenements.
It is important to note that we are not exploring for hot rocks at Olympic Dam.
We have already proven the granites are hot, having drilled Blanche No 1 to
nearly two kilometres into hot granites right next to the Olympic Dam mine and
high voltage power grid. We are already at the commencement of the next step
which is to establish a water circulation system in the hot rocks.
The high temperatures have been reconfirmed from recent drilling undertaken by
BHP Billiton. With the agreement and co-operation of BHP Billiton we measured
the temperatures and pressures using our high temperature/pressure probe in two
holes drilled down to around 2.3 kilometres at the Olympic Dam mine site.
Temperatures and the geothermal gradient there were marginally higher than in
Green Rock’s Blanche No 1 well.
corporatefile.com.au
What progress have you made in attracting a partner to the Olympic Dam project?
MD Adrian Larking
We are seeking a major company to farm into the project. It is a slow process but
it is important to have the right company interested in generating electricity from
clean renewable energy to support the Project. The Olympic Dam Project has the
combined favourable factors of hot rocks and the immediate market for the supply
of electricity. If the fracture stimulation program is successful, this project could
support a power plant with in excess of 400MWe of capacity.
This will make Green Rock a world scale generator of clean renewable energy.
corporatefile.com.au
Thank you Adrian.
For further information on Green Rock Energy please visit
www.greenrock.com.au or call Adrian Larking or Alan Knights on (08) 9482
0482.