This morning, I made a presentation to the AJM Galilee Basin Coal & Energy Investment Conference. My presentation on the geothermal energy potential in the Basin was the end of a session with several excellent presentations on coal and gas projects and the infrastructure developments in the Galilee Basin. The Galilee Basin appears to be the next coal and gas frontier for Queensland, following the past successes in Surat and Bowen basins. It is difficult to make categorical statements about the geothermal potential in the Galilee basin because we do not have enough information. As applies to the rest of Queensland, the spatial distribution of the heat producing granites is poorly constrained. Preliminary results suggest a significant HFR potential for the Drummond basin but more work is needed to confirm it. One indicator is the surface concentration of heat producing elements, reported as 4 PPM for Uranium and 29 PPM for Thorium in the Drummond basin. These should be compared to the average crust concentrations for U and Th as 3 and 11 PM, respectively.

In addition to the HFR in the south-east part of the Basin, towards the north edge of the Basin, where it overlaps the great Artesian basin, there is significant potential for HSA geothermal. In fact, some tenements were taken in this area by Clean Energy Australasia, possibly to produce electricity for Mount Isa region and the rest of NW Queensland. Apparently, the lack of access to cheap electricity is one of the major impediments towards development of NW Queensland. Some speakers at the Conference suggested that the industry in Mt Isa might be paying for their electricity contracts at rates above 10 cents/kWh. The exact tariffs are confidential since these are contracts between the mines and the utility companies. If these "above 10" rates start getting into the teens, geothermal electricity suddenly starts becoming very competitive.