Greymouth – New Zealand

Mining Permit PMP50100 (Greymouth) in the West Coast coal region of New Zealand’s South Island was awarded to Macdonald Investments Ltd (MIL) in July 2007 and covers 170km². By way of a two-stage farmin process Comet (through its merger with Chartwell) is earning a 50% interest in PMP50100.

Stage 1 has been completed earning Comet Ridge a 20% interest and operatorship. This program consisted of seismic acquisition and drilling two core holes. Stage 2 (spend of NZ$6.2m) is underway and involves further seismic (already completed), two additional core holes and a three-well production pilot scheme. This phase will take Comet Ridge’s interest to 50% with an option to increase to 60%.

Buller Block – New Zealand

PEP50279 (Buller Block) was granted on April 2008 for a period of five years to a joint venture between Chartwell NZ Pty Ltd (60%) and MIL (40%). The permit covers an area of 8,722km² over much of the onshore Westland Basin.

Painkiller Creek-1C exploration core well drilled in March 2009, near Reefton in the West Coast region of the South Iisland. The well was designed to assess the development of the Eocene age Brunner coal measures. The core hole found a lack of coal development but fulfilled Year 1 exploration commitments on the permits. Further exploration will be undertaken in 2010 following the completion of further studies incorporating these results.

North Waikato Block – New Zealand

PEP50280 was also granted for a period of five years to the Chartwell Energy (60%) and MIL (40%). It covers an area of 3,667km² over much of the North Waikato coalfields and the Hauraki Gulf for the purposes of exploring for CSG. The location of PEP50280 is close to the major population centres of New Zealand’s North Island and adds to the block’s appeal. Power and pipeline infrastructure exist in the Western part of the permit. Solid Energy’s Huntly CSG project lies to the South and the large Huntly gas-fired power station is nearby.

In February 2009 the Matata-1C exploration well was drilled to a total depth of 472 metres and encountered a thicker than expected sedimentary sequence, however, with poor coal development. The well was plugged and abandoned. The Matata-1C was the first exploration well drilled by Chartwell in PEP50280.

Back to Top