Quarterly Report
30 September 2013
Quarter one highlights
Paralana
› Focus was on unlocking the
$13 million Emerging Renewables Program grant by meeting the conditions precedent to restart the Paralana Geothermal Project in 2014.
Tasmania
› The Company applied for a large Petroleum Licence north of Hobart to investigate for shale oil and gas.
Spain - Tenerife
› In discussions on joint venture arrangements with a major Spanish energy company for the Tenerife geothermal project.
› A 3D magneto-telluric (MT) survey has defined a geothermal target on the southern slopes of Teide Volcano, Tenerife, in an area suitable for development.
Review of Operations
Quarterly exploration and evaluation expenditure amounted to $55,000 and included costs associated with the Paralana and Tenerife projects.
The Company had ongoing administration costs of $289,000 during the quarter.
At the end of the reporting period the Company held $542,000 in cash.
Previously in June, the Company advised it had been awarded a
$13 million grant by the Australian
Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to fund approximately half of the next critical stage of works at Paralana. There are two conditions to this grant to the restart of deep drilling and sub- surface development works at Paralana. The first being a firm commitment assurance from our JV partner Beach Energy to fund its 21% equity share, which has been obtained. Secondly, that Petratherm secures an additional
$5 million in equity either from the market or through introducing an additional joint venture partner to the project. During the quarter, the Company's primary focus continued on resolving these funding matters to enable the project to proceed as soon as practicable.
Post the reporting period, the Company announced a capital raising by way of a non-
renounceable pro rata rights issue at an issue price of $0.01 per new share on the basis of one new share for every one ordinary share held. Under this offer, a maximum of
177,067,166 shares will be issued to raise up to $1,770,672. Funds raised from the rights issue will
be used to pay for the costs of the rights issue, funding new project acquisitions or joint ventures, funding advancement of the Paralana Project and for working capital purposes. The rights
issue is partially underwritten by
Taylor Collison Ltd to the extent of
$600,000.
Projects
Paralana Tenerife
During the period, no further ground works were undertaken, whilst the Company seeks to finalise funding arrangements for the next critical stage of works. These
works are currently scheduled to begin, subject to funding, in early
2014 and will see the completion of a circulation doublet, aimed at producing a commercial rate of energy extraction. If a sustainable high production flow rate can be achieved, then the new 3.5 MW organic rankine cycle (ORC) power plant is to be installed.
Subsequently, the connection of the new 3.5 MW plant to the local customer, Beverley Uranium Mine, will occur via a 11km underground
33kV transmission line. This second phase of work is subject to the Commonwealth Government Renewable Energy Development Program (REDP) grant, which will provide funds on a $1 for every $2 spent basis.
The project has been fully budgeted
and financial modeling shows this initial development will be commercially viable inclusive of grants.
In July, Petratherm advised that its wholly owned subsidiary, PetraGas Ltd, had applied for a Petroleum Exploration Licence (EL3/2013) covering approximately 3,900 square kilometres, north of Hobart
in central Tasmania (refer Figure 1).
The tenement application covers part of the petroleum-bearing Tas- mania Basin, which is prospective for both conventional and uncon- ventional oil and gas.
This decision by Petratherm to ex- tend into petroleum exploration lev- erages our core areas of expertise that include basin geology and deep drilling (developed from working on engineered geothermal systems) and our knowledge of the Australian electricity and gas markets.
The licence straddles the Tasmanian gas pipeline which runs between Hobart and eastern mainland Vic- toria, allowing potential access to major gas markets (refer Figure 1). The area is a greenfields play and the first year's work will be largely
a desktop study assessing historical data to determine its prospectivity.
Processing of an extensive magneto-telluric (MT) survey undertaken to principally define the Vilaflor MT anomaly on the southern slopes of the Tiede Volcano earlier in the year is close to completion. The work has been undertaken by the University of Barcelona working with Petratherm, and is largely funded by the €1.7 million Geothercan project.
3D visual modeling demonstrates a thinning and doming of a conductive layer representing the clay cap alteration zone of a geothermal system at Vilaflor. These results are highly encouraging, defining a direct drill target. The modeling work suggests a well drilled to 2000m depth will penetrate through the
clay alteration cap and into the top of the potential geothermal system.
The Company is in joint venture discussions with a large Spanish energy company to secure funding to drill test this feature.
Figure 1 - Location map of Tasmanian
Petroleum Tenement Application area
Figure 2 - West to East resistivity cross-section of the Vilaflor Anomaly, Tenerife. The orange and red colours delineate the extent of the hydrothermal clay alteration cap. It is postulated from geochemical analysis of active fumaroles on the island that a liquid
dominated geothermal system with temperatures up to 240°C may still be in place below the clay cap.
Corporate information
Corporate Office
Level 1, 129 Greenhill Road Unley, South Australia 5061 t. +61 8 8274 5000
f. +61 8 8272 8141
e. admin@petratherm.com.au www.petratherm.com.au
ABN 17 106 806 884
Derek Carter
Managing DirectorTerry Kallis
Non Executive DirectorsRichard Bonython Richard Hillis Simon O'Loughlin Lewis Owens
Inside the
Petratherm team
Managing DirectorTerry Kallis
Exploration ManagerPeter Reid
Office ManagerElena McRae
Manager - SpainRaul Hidalgo
Upcoming events
Industry eventsFor further information on forthcoming events in the geothermal sector visit the Australian Geothermal Energy Association website at http://agea. org.au and the DMITRE website at http://geothermal.dmitre.sa.gov.au
Website
Petratherm's website delivers regular information updates to shareholders and stakeholders
Proudly supporting
Company Secretary
Donald Stephens
HLB Mann Judd (SA) Pty Ltd
Level 5, 115 Grenfell Street
Adelaide, South Australia 5000
O'Loughlin Lawyers
Level 2, 99 Frome Street
Adelaide, South Australia 5000
Grant Thornton
South Australian Partnership
67 Greenhill Road
Wayville, South Australia 5034
Competent Person Statements
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Peter Reid, who appears on the Register of Practicing Geothermal Professionals maintained by the Australian Geothermal Energy Group Incorporated at the time of the publication of this report. Peter Reid is a full time employee of the Company. Peter Reid has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style and type of geothermal play under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the Second Edition (2010) of the Australian Code for Reporting Exploration Results, Geothermal Resources and Geothermal Reserves. Peter Reid has consented in writing to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
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