- Blue Star Helium (BNL) progresses its exploratory water and helium exploration well programs in Las Animas County, Colorado
- BNL is undertaking an exploratory water well program comprising about four or five wells at the Galactica and Pegasus prospects
- The company says exploratory water wells allow it to accelerate helium well location selections for appraisal and development drilling
- Blue Star’s Enterprise 16#1 well, the first of 10 planned helium exploration wells to be drilled this year, reached a total depth of 1,250 feet and identified a potential helium zone in the targeted Lyons formation, according to the company
- BNL shares down 2.38 per cent to 4.1 cents
Blue Star Helium (BNL) has provided an update on helium exploration activities at its helium lease holdings in Las Animas County, Colorado.
As announced in January this year, the company is focused on advancing further drill planning and permitting across its prospects over the course of 2022, including a mix of exploratory water wells and helium exploration wells.
Drilling of the first two of a planned four or five exploratory water wells at the Galactica and Pegasus prospects has commenced.
Blue Star said the wells would “front run” helium exploration, appraisal and production drilling at the Pegasus and Galactica prospects, where it also had a further potential 29 helium exploration well locations in its permitting pipeline.
The company said the exploratory water wells would help provide structural information, modern wireline logs and define water contacts and were lower cost and quicker to advance compared to helium exploration wells.
“Exploratory water wells enable us to obtain extensive data that … allow us to accelerate helium well location selections for appraisal and development drilling,” Managing Director and CEO Trent Spry said.
“At the same time, we are delivering landholders in the local Las Animas community critical new water resource data and valuable water infrastructure for their long-term private and commercial use.”
Blue Star said it was fast-tracking the Voyager prospect for development after the “breakthrough success” of the BBB#1 exploratory water well that returned a 134-foot gas column in the Lyons formation with a calculated air-free helium concentration of 8.8 per cent.
“This is a similar gas composition to the historic Model Dome field which had one of the highest in-situ helium concentrations both in the US and globally. We look forward to updating shareholders on the development plans shortly,” Mr Spry said.
The recent Enterprise 16#1 helium well was the first in a series of 10 helium exploration wells Blue Star planned to be drilled across its Las Animas portfolio during CY2022.
It reached a total depth of 1,250 feet and identified a potential helium zone in the targeted Lyons formation.
“The Enterprise 16#1 well successfully identified a deeper gas water contact at the Enterprise prospect than was previously interpreted. The completion and testing program has been finalised and approved … and we look forward to executing it shortly,” Mr Spry said.
BNL shares were down 2.38 per cent to 4.1 cents at 2:41 pm AEST.