Oil and gas explorer TMK Energy has drilled to a depth of 375m and hit about 60m of coal at the company’s first production well – Lucky Fox-1 – at its coal seam gas Gurvantes XXXV project in Mongolia’s South Gobi Basin.
After a short spell for maintenance, the company plans to quickly shift its drilling rig about 200m to the next well pad for the drilling of Lucky Fox-2. Once it has completed three pilot production wells, which should occur in about five weeks, it expects to kick off a six-month production test to demonstrate proof of concept and produce gas to surface.
Intersecting a very thick, very gassy, coal seam of 60m in the production interval, at relatively shallow depth, is a unique feature of this CSG Project that bodes well for the upcoming production test. With the Company’s recent successful $5.7 million capital raising together with the remaining funding obligation from Talon Energy, the Company is well funded to deliver on its 2023 program which includes not only the Lucky Fox pilot well program, but also an extensive exploration program which aims to deliver further resource upgrades on what is quickly becoming a world class CSG province. TMK Energy chief executive officer Brendan Stats
Oil and gas explorer TMK Energy has drilled to a depth of 375m and hit about 60m of coal at the company’s first production well – Lucky Fox-1 – at its coal seam gas Gurvantes XXXV project in Mongolia’s South Gobi Basin.
After a short spell for maintenance, the company plans to quickly shift its drilling rig about 200m to the next well pad for the drilling of Lucky Fox-2. Once it has completed three pilot production wells, which should occur in about five weeks, it expects to kick off a six-month production test to demonstrate proof of concept and produce gas to surface.
TMK Energy chief executive officer Brendan Stats said: “Intersecting a very thick, very gassy, coal seam of 60m in the production interval, at relatively shallow depth, is a unique feature of this CSG Project that bodes well for the upcoming production test. With the Company’s recent successful $5.7 million capital raising together with the remaining funding obligation from Talon Energy, the Company is well funded to deliver on its 2023 program which includes not only the Lucky Fox pilot well program, but also an extensive exploration program which aims to deliver further resource upgrades on what is quickly becoming a world class CSG province.”
Last week, TMK Energy revealed its raise of nearly $6 million from sophisticated and institutional investors to help accelerate and expand its exploration drilling program at its promising coal seam gas project.
The program will target areas with known coal to the east of the central Nariin Sukhait area, which was the focus of TMK’s successful maiden exploration program last year that delivered a gross 1.2 trillion cubic feet contingent resource (2C).
The project sits virtually on the Chinese border in Mongolia’s south. It covers about 8400 square kilometres of what TMK says is one of the most prospective CSG basins in the world. Within the area, there are six active coal mining operations, 26 coal mining leases and many coal exploration licences, which together have defined a substantial coal resource.
Gurvantes XXXV is a joint venture with ASX-listed Talon Energy, which became involved when it signed a US$5 million ($7.44 million) farm-out agreement with Telmen Energy in January, 2021. In February last year, TMK Energy (formerly Tamaska Oil and Gas) acquired Telmen and its 100 per cent interest in the project.
TMK – which was granted a 15-year exploration licence in September, 2021 – now owns 67 per cent of the Gurvantes XXXV project and Talon will take up the remaining 33 per cent by primarily funding the pilot well program.
Management believes there are multiple opportunities to market the project’s natural gas, particularly to several large-scale mining operations with high energy requirements in the South Gobi area. There is also a big market for gas in China and the project is close to an extensive Northern China gas transmission and distribution network.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: office@bullsnbears.com.au