The first stage of work involved preparing these holes for further drilling with a percussion drilling rig.

Now the company is using a diamond drilling rig, which was several weeks late due to heavy rainfall and flooding, to extend these holes to a depth of 500m to determine the geothermal prospectivity of the buried uranium-rich granites in the region.

This stage is expected to finish in the second half of the year, after which Geothermal Resources will use the data to determine the best drillhole locations.

This drilling is being supported by a $2.4 million REDI (Renewable Energy Development Initiative) grant from the Federal Government, which will match the company’s funding until completion of at least one deep hole into the hot rock geothermal energy source.

Meanwhile, the company has also applied for two new geothermal exploration licences, covering about 500 square kilometres each, to the east of the Frome project area.