D3 Energy Ltd (ASX:D3E, OTCQX:DNRGF) has confirmed a helium concentration of 5.2% from its NGT245 E well at the Nooitgedacht prospect in South Africa after remedial work successfully restored gas flow.
The result shows the scale of the helium system across the company's Free State acreage and comes from D3 Energy's first drilling campaign at Nooitgedacht, around 40 kilometres from its Production Right application area.
Gas samples from NGT245 E also returned 49.7% methane, although the company said the unusually low methane reading was being retested.
Well location map.
Managing director and CEO David Casey said the 5.2% helium result demonstrated the broader potential of the company's South African portfolio, particularly given the distance between Nooitgedacht and the Production Right application area.
"We are delighted to confirm excellent helium concentrations in gas samples retrieved from NGT245 E. The remedial work has re-established gas flow to enable us to collect and analyse gas samples, and the results speak for themselves," Casey said.w.d3energy.com.au
"Another world class helium concentration of 5.2% in what is our first drilling operation at Nooitgedacht, some 40km from our Production Right application area, is a great result and further demonstrates the true scale of the helium system we have across our portfolio in South Africa.
This and other data from the drilling programme, together with the high-resolution seismic data just acquired at Nooitgedacht, will enable us to refine our structural interpretation of the project area and enable us to convert what is already one of the largest pure play contingent helium resources anywhere, to reserves."
Gas flow restored
Remedial cementing was undertaken after deeper water zones were found to be restricting gas flow at the NGT245 E and NGT245 D wells.
The work successfully isolated the deeper water zones at NGT245 E, allowing gas flow to resume and enabling D3 Energy to collect a sample for compositional analysis.
D3E will continue to assess camera and logging data before undertaking further tailored remediation ahead of production testing.
Remediation at NGT245 D is also expected to resume shortly following a stabilisation period after initial cementing work.
Building the Nooitgedacht picture
D3 Energy recently completed high-resolution seismic work at Nooitgedacht, with the drilling and seismic datasets expected to help refine the structural interpretation of the project area.
The additional technical data will support the company's efforts to advance existing contingent helium resources toward reserve status.
Nooitgedacht sits within the company's 100%-owned ER315 exploration permit, which forms part of a much larger landholding across South Africa's Free State Province .
