Botala Energy Ltd (ASX:BTE) has passed a critical milestone in the development of the Naledi coal bed methane (CBM) gas project at Serowe, Botswana, having received the necessary environmental approvals.
The way is now clear for BTE to apply for a Mining Licence over the project, with applications already in progress.
“Awarding of Environmental Approval is always a major milestone for any project,” Botala Energy CEO Kris Martinick said.
“It reduces the number of remaining hurdles for development of this project. We are excited to have recommenced operations after a well-earned break across the Christmas period.”
Planned development of Project Naledi
The Naledi CBM Project sits close to the village of Serowe in Botswana.
The recently granted environmental approvals for this project include a 100-kilometre pipeline from the wellfield to a proposed energy hub (Leupane) and industrial park near the town of Palapye.
The development of the project will consist of:
- Well heads and gas gathering network of subsurface pipes connected to the Central Processing Facility within the wellfield for removal of water and impurities.
- Gas supply to the proposed 20-megawatt gas/solar hybrid pilot in Serowe, currently under advanced planning.
- Gas being compressed into an export pipeline to the proposed Leupane Energy Hub and Industrial Park.
- Water disposal from evaporation ponds; a reverse osmosis plant to treat saline water is under consideration.
- Network of infield pipelines and service tracks.
The company’s feasibility study is also nearing completion and the mining licence for Naledi is expected to be awarded this month.
Project Pitse update
Botala is also advancing the nearby Pitse Project, its maiden commercial well pilot, where the company is preparing to collect core samples from three intersected seams in the fifth and final well of the project’s current exploration phase, Serowe-3.4.
Once the cores have been retrieved, the company will complete the other four wells.
Surface and downhole equipment from Brisbane has started to arrive in Botswana with the final containers due to land in Durban within the next two weeks.
Botala is seeking to improve its understanding of the geological setting and lithology of the greater Pitse area with ground magnetics and Audio Magnetotellurics (AMT) lines over three ‘slim’ exploration holes, which are not designed for production.