Helium One Global Ltd (LON:HE1) has announced the presence of helium enriched gas in drilling mud in the Lake Bed Formation while drilling Tai-1 well at the Rukwa Project (100%) in Tanzania.
Highlights:
· Helium shows identified in shallow strata from 70.5 metres
· Micro-Gas Chromatograph showing He concentrations up to 22,084ppm (2.2%) He in gas recovered from drilling mud
· Drilling operations will continue to the base of Lake Bed Formation, anticipated to be at 400 metres, before wireline logging can provide additional information
David Minchin, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We are very excited to have identified the presence of helium in drilling mud from very shallow depth. Drilling will now continue to the base of the Lake Bed Formation at which point we will run wireline tools to obtain more detailed formation evaluation.
“Although concentrations of 2.2% He are encouraging indicators of free gas, it is important to note that a helium show is not evidence of commerciality and further evaluation is required by wireline logging to confirm any potential pay zones. It is also important to note that gas concentrations encountered in mud logging are qualitative rather than quantitative and in-situ grade may be higher or lower than what is measured.
“With over 1000 metres still to drill at Tai-1 these are early days in our exploration drilling. Early helium shows give us a great deal of optimism for the remaining programme and we look forward to providing further updates as the project develops.”
Details
Helium One commenced exploration drilling at its flagship Rukwa Project in Tanzania at 4pm local time on Saturday 12th June. Drilling progressed slowly through soft surface sediment until conductor casing was cemented at a depth of 55 metres, allowing 24 hour ‘PQ’ size open hole drilling operations to commence from approximately 5pm local time on Saturday 19th June.
At approximately 6:30pm local time on Saturday 19th June, at a depth of 70.5 metres, the Helium One mud logging crew detected helium in mud at a concentration of 22,084ppm (2.2%) He. The gas show is situated at the base of a 20 metres thick shale unit and persisted at >10,000ppm (>1%) He for 4-6 meters. Readings were made on the Micro Gas Chromatograph only, which had not yet been calibrated in the field.
Drilling will continue to the Base of the Lake Bed Formation, anticipated to be at 400 metres. At this point the Company will then commence wireline logging to gain additional information on the formation reservoir characteristics and identify any potential pay zones. After logging the Lake Bed Formation, this section of the hole will be cased and drilling will continue to Basement.
Due to the poorly consolidated nature of the Lake Bed Formation encountered at Tai-1, it will not be possible to perform drill stem tests on any pay zones identified in the shallow strata in this well. This is to remove the risk of hole collapse during flow testing and ensure that Tai-1 can continue to test prospective closures at depth in the Red Sandstone and Karoo Formations.
Tai-1 is the first well in a three well programme targeting shallow structures in close proximity to the Itumbula Helium Seeps. The prospect has been chosen as our first well because of the presence of stacked targets within a well-defined structural closure. Each well is expected to take approximately one month to complete and are planned to each test a different trapping style, therefore providing information essential in de-risking our portfolio of prospects across the basin.
