Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Water Henry Palaszczuk said six permits totalling 3600 square kilometres had been made available for competitive tendering in areas that contained significant geothermal potential.

“Three are situated in south-west Queensland, in areas believed to have some of the highest geothermal gradients outside volcanically active areas,” Palaszczuk said.

Two areas are located between Boulia and Winton, near major mining projects in the state’s north-west. The remaining area was not tendered for and was subsequently withdrawn from the process.

The combined proposed geothermal exploration expenditure in these areas is estimated to be more than $A46 million.

Queensland was recognised as having most of Australia’s potential geothermal resources, Palaszczuk added.

“If the developing technology stacks up, indications are that we could produce enormous quantities of energy from this source,” he said.

One cubic kilometre of rock at a temperature of 250C contains about as much energy as 40 million barrels of oil or 8 million tonnes of coal.

The successful tenderers are:

·GL2005A (between Boulia and Winton) – Red Hot Rocks

·GLR005B (between Boulia and Winton) – Red Hot Rocks

·GLR005D (west of Thargomindah) – Red Hot Rocks

·GLR005E (west of Thargomindah) – Geodynamics

·GLR005F (west of Thargomindah) – Geodynamics

The call for tenders for geothermal exploration permits was advertised in October 2005 and closed on March 3, 2006.