Australian firm to expand geothermal portfolio with three new applications
Fraser Coast, Queensland/ Australia (source: flickr/ ]°+_bill_+°[, creative commons)
Carlo Cariaga
20 Jun 2022
Greenvale Mining Limited has applied for three development areas in the Millungera Basin in Queensland, one of the highest-potential geothermal sites in Australia.
Mineral exploration and energy company Greenvale Mining Limited has announced lodging of applications for three prospective geothermal areas in the Millungera Basin of NW Queensland, Australia. Based on existing information, the potential geothermal resource in this Basin could lie no deeper than 2 kilometers below surface and has projected temperatures between 100 to 120 degrees Celsius.
The Millungera Basin is considered one of the most highly prospective areas geologically in Australia. The site is also of considerable strategic and economic importance given its proximity to emerging infrastructure and the NW Minerals Province. The new applications areas are set to benefit from the construction of a 1000-kilometer open access transmission line that will connect Mount Isa to existing power infrastructure in Townsville.
Greenvale has also applied for the corresponding mineral tenements over the new proposed project areas and will assess the geothermal brines for a full suite of metals, including as a potential source of lithium.
Previous studies on the Millungera Basin
The Millungera Basin in North Queensland was identified after deep seismic surveys in 2006 and 2007. The Basin encompasses the Mount Isa Inlier and is generally characterized by high heat flow. Elevated bottom-hole temperatures have been confirmed after precision down-hole temperature testing.
A high heat producing intrusive underlying the basin is the target heat source for the Millungera Basin. Granitic bodies underlying the basin have been inferred from geophysical data and exhibit similar geophysical characteristics as the Williams Supersuite stratigraphic unit identified in Australia.
Compared to the six major regions of geothermal activity in Australia, the Millungera Basin has a heat flow value that is higher than all the other heat flow averages. Greenvale has applied for areas covering the majority of the sparsely explored Millungera Basin. The geological profile of the Millungera Basin fits with the Company’s geothermal strategy to
exploit shallower, lower temperature sources utilising Binary Cycle technology.
Source: Greenvale Mining Limited
