Cipher has been engaged to oversee the evaluation of gas in coal in an area near the town of Tete, Mozambique. An extensive drilling program is being undertaken to characterize the coal and organic sediments for gas content within the Moatize Formation (Permian). The coal-bearing formation is upwards of 800 m thick in some places with net coal greater than 90 m. Individual seams can be more than 30 m in thickness.
Cipher Associate Chris Nelson at drill site in Mozambique
The Moatize Formation is part of the greater Kalihari-Karoo coal basin that occurs through out southern Africa (Cairncross, 2001; Catuneanu et al., 2005; Hancox and Götz, 2014; Johnson et al., 1996; Wagner et al., 2018). Like much of the Permian in southern Africa, the stratigraphy is made more complex by the presence of abundant dykes and sills (Le Gall et al., 2005).
In December 2018 Cipher conducted on-site training and drilling has since commenced. Extensive data from a number of locations will collect gas charge, gas potential and gas quality data. Cipher will then use these results to estimate original gas in-place volumes.
Cairncross, B., 2001. An overview of the Permian (Karoo) coal deposits of southern Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 33, 529-562.
Catuneanu, O., Wopfner, H., Eriksson, P.G., Cairncross, B., Rubidge, B.S., Smith, R.M.H., Hancox, P.J., 2005. The Karoo basins of south-central Africa. Journal of African Earth Sciences 43, 211-253.
Hancox, P.J., Götz, A.E., 2014. South Africa’s coalfields – a 2014 perspective. International Journal of Coal Geology 132, 170-254.
Johnson, M.R., Van Vuuren, C.J., Hegenberger, W.F., Key, R., Shoko, U., 1996. Stratigraphy of the Karoo Supergroup in southern Africa: an overview. Journal of African Earth Sciences 23, 3-15.
Le Gall, B., Tshoso, G., Dyment, J., Kampunzu, A.B., Jourdan, F., Féraud, G., Bertrand, H., Aubourg, C., Vétel, W., 2005. The Okavango giant mafic dyke swarm (NE Botswana): its structural significance within the Karoo Large Igneous Province. Journal of Structural Geology 27, 2234-2255.
Wagner, N., Malumbazo, N., Falcon, R., 2018. Southern African Coals and Carbons. Struik Nature, Cape Town.
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