According to Torrens, temperature gradients measured from two completed wells have yielded very high values. Nazgul-1 was drilled to 600m, while Gollum-1 was drilled to 501m, enabling the company to model temperatures of 240°C at 5000m and confirming hot rock prospectivity on the national electricity grid.

Torrens says heat flows at Nazgul-1 and Gollum-1 are over 100megaWatts per square metre, well above the company’s stated target heat flow of 90mW/m2.

Testing of the Sauron-1 and Gandalf-1 wells has yet to be completed. Meanwhile, drilling has begun on three more exploration drillholes, which are also presumably named after characters from Lord of the Rings.

“These values represent a significant discovery and are above averages recorded in the Cooper Basin of South Australia, which has traditionally been the focus of geothermal exploration activity in Australia,” chief executive Chris Matthews said.

These modelled results are higher than temperatures currently being exploited for hot rock geothermal power in Europe, and amongst the highest being evaluated in Australia, according to Torrens.

“One of the most exciting aspects of these results is that they are from drillholes that are adjacent to each other, indicating that the results may be highlighting a continuous region, and delineate a larger heat anomaly than anticipated,” Matthews said.

“This could become a major discovery right next to the Power Grid in South Australia”.

Work is being carried out by two drilling rigs, one drilling “pre-collars” through unconsolidated ground, while the other is drilling core “tails” to enable accurate heat flow measurements to be made at depths ranging from 500-600m.