The company, which has given 1980s high-flyer Peter Briggs with a return to listed company life a hiatus of several years, is now working to prove up the gas finds on its Yelverton tenement near Adina.

Westralian managing director Stephen Thomas said the gas finds further bolstered the company’s expectations.

“The coal is where we thought it was in the thicknesses we thought it would be, only slightly shallower than we expected,” he told EnergyReview.net.

“With gas in the tubes we’re confident we’ll have gas in the coal. Only time will tell.”

While the coal seams were where the company expected to find them, Westralian told the Australian Stock Exchange that its Yelvertorn drilling cost more than expected due to the extremely wet conditions experienced in the area. It said that higher cost was not expected to continue.

The company hopes to produce one million cubic feet of gas a day from five wells it plans to put into Yelverton.

Thomas said that sort of gas flow would allow Westralian to produce about 5-6 megawatts of electricity daily that it would sell into WA’s main electricity grid the South West Interconnected System.

“Our customers are on our doorstep,” he said.

But Thomas conceded it would be about 18 months before the company was at that stage.

While the gas indication was encouraging, Thomas said the company had yet to quantify its find.

“It’s an indication that we have gas in the hole,” he said.

The company must perforate the drill holes and then dewater them.

“We’ll probably be pumping water out on Wednesday, all things being equal,” Thomas said.

He said dewatering, in some cases, could take several months but he did not think that would be the case at Yelverton.

“Other well drillers in the area don’t believe these will produce much water,” Thomas said.

The announcement did not make any immediate impact on Westralian’s share price, which remained at 15.5c. When the company listed in March its opening share price was 22c.