HyTerra Confirms Hydrogen and Helium in New McCoy 1 Nemaha Well

The Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest-backed HyTerra (ASX: HYT) has confirmed promising levels of hydrogen and helium in the McCoy 1 exploration well at the Nemaha project in Kansas.

Fortescue’s (ASX: FMG) $21.9 million investment in HyTerra to support its industrial gas hunt in Kansas looks to be paying off, with mud gas samples from McCoy 1 confirming concentrations of hydrogen up to 83% and helium up to 5%.

Those numbers match up well to the concentrations of hydrogen of up to 96% and helium up to 5% recorded at Sue Duroche 3 drilled around nine kms away in April.

Deepest Test to Date

Under approximately 435 metres of sedimentary rocks and 1,260m of Pre-Cambrian basement, McCoy 1 is the deepest well the company has drilled to date, adding key information for future exploration planning.

HyTerra’s 3,116 contiguous net acres around the McCoy 1 well site abut the I70 Interstate Highway, a major east-west arterial route across 10 states in the US.

The company believes the continued recording of elevated helium concentrations is significant, as Kansas is the country’s leading producer of helium.

HyTerra has already used a workover rig to convert McCoy 1 to an appraisal well, successfully removing drilling fluid from the well bore in the process.

Flow-Testing Scheduled

“HyTerra is excited to now see if McCoy 1 is also naturally fractured and capable of inflow like Blythe 13-20 and Sue Duroche 3,” executive director Benjamin Mee said.

“These results will feed into the design and planning of a production test program required to fully appraise steady state gas flow rates and compositions.”

HyTerra incorporated what it had learned from two previous wells into the design of McCoy 1, with the modified design providing significant cost and efficiency benefits.

“I’m glad we acquired quality static and dynamic data across three wells, as this is getting exciting,” Mr Mee added.