Elixir Energy Ltd (ASX:EXR) has made another coal bed methane (CBM) discovery at the 100%-owned Nomgon IX CBM Production Sharing Contract (PSC) in the South Gobi Basin of Mongolia.
Coring, desorption and testing undertaken recently at the Big Slope coal deposits have formally yielded a CBM gas discovery under Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS) guidelines, having proved the presence of gas-saturated coal with adequate permeability.
Core holes and chip holes at Big Slope have intersected coal thicknesses of up to 59.5 metres, even though the full stratigraphic section is yet to be penetrated.
A total of 3,510 metres has now been drilled in the Big Slope area, with a total of 259 metres of coal intersected.
Elixir has measured consistent gas contents of up to 9 cubic metres per ton (on a raw gas basis) – with the expected strong correlation of increasing gas content with depth.
Location map of Elixir activity in Mongolia.
Activity accelerated
This comes as the company accelerates activity in the Nomgon IX PSC before the harsh Mongolian winter sets in.
In total, Elixir is now operating four rigs in the PSC, two with Major Drilling and two with Erdene Drilling.
Elixir’s managing director Neil Young said: “Our drilling program in the Gobi is operating intensively at present and delivering strong results.
"We now have another formal discovery in the Big Slope area and we will continue to appraise across the key South West section of the PSC for the next few months before winter."
The most recently completed well, Big Slope Shallow-1 intersected 37 metres of coal in a well that was 321 metres deep.
This measured permeability of 0.8 milliDarcies (mD) from a Drill Stem Test (DST) over a 6 metres coal seam, within an interval of 288.5 to 294.5 metres. Appraisal and testing of this area and the adjacent Yangir area continues.
Nomgon-10 spuds
Yesterday, Elixir spudded Nomgon-10, an additional pilot well that will be connected to the Nomgon Pilot Production plant.
The well is expected to take around two weeks to drill and should be connected and online within one month.
"On the pilot side, Nomgon-10 should be online within a month and will add to the ongoing pilot data gathering process thereafter,” Young said.
Gas and water production from the Pilot Plant has been temporarily suspended until the simultaneous drilling operations are completed.