TMK Energy Ltd., Perth, confirmed high gas contents in Snow Leopard wells in the Gurvantes XXXV coal seam gas project in the South Gobi basin in Mongolia.
Final gas content results in the desorption samples taken from SL-02 (completed in June) and SL-03 (completed in July) wells confirm that the target shallow depth coal seams at of 170-300 m show saturation values of 78-92% and average 84%.
Coal permeability for SL-02 is 47 millidarcies (md) and 760 md for SL-03.
Results from SL-02 average 9.5 cu m/tonne (10.6 cu m/tonne on a dry ash free (DAF) basis), while SL-03 averaged 9.8 cu m/tonne (11.8 cu m/tonne DAF basis).
These compare with an average 13.2 cu m/tonne (15.7 cu m/tonne DAF basis) for the SL-01 well completed in May.
Methane content averages 96% across the three wells with CO2 averaging 2.4%.
Petrography studies indicate that the coal is 80% vitrinite macerals with a vitrinite reflectance value of 0.85% indicating a high volatile bituminous coal rank, TMK said.
The company is currently re-drilling SL-03 (SL-03R) to intersect the lower coal seam.
A second drilling rig spudded SL-04 about 6 km east of SL-03R targeting the same coal formations as the previous wells but concentrating on the lower seam which is projected to be at a shallower depth than the first three wells.
It is rare to find a combination of thick shallow coal with high gas content and high permeability, which makes the Snow Leopard exceptional, said Brendan Stats, TMK chief executive officer.
“These parameters suggest the initial development will be relatively simple, comprising cheap shallow vertical wells in the first instance. The deeper coals will be targeted later in the project development phase,” he said.
Once all four wells are drilled and tested, TMK hopes that the resulting data will enable it to convert a portion of the independently certified 5.96 tcf of gross prospective resource into a maiden contingent resource for the Nariin Sukhait area during second-half 2022.
The drilling program is being funded by Talon Energy Ltd. under the $4.65 million 2-stage agreement executed in February 2021.
