Oracle Power PLC (LON:ORCP) said it made “significant strides” in the first quarter of 2021, with agreements in place for the Thar project in Pakistan and successful exploration in Australia.
"Q1 has been a period of increased activity in both of our jurisdictions and has set the pace for a highly productive 2021,” chief executive Naheed Memon said in a statement.
“We look forward to providing updates from Pakistan, where we are awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Energy for construction of new power plants, based on a generation plan the government is currently working on, in addition to further developments relating to our CTG and CTL development strategy.
“We also expect the next three months to deliver high impact news flow from Western Australia as we expand our work programmes and begin drilling as we look to produce multiple high value development opportunities for the benefit of all stakeholders."
Pakistan
In Pakistan, the company advanced its project with the progression of a commercialisation framework for its coal-to-gas and coal-to-liquid strategy. According to Memon, this promises to revolutionise the industries.
It also marks confirmation of the government’s support for the company’s plans.
In February, Oracle and China National Coal Development Company (CNCDC) submitted the policy proposal to the Ministry of Energy, outlining a commercial framework for fast-tracking development of the industries to address Pakistan's critical gas shortage and continued reliance on imported liquid fuels.
Oracle also noted CNCDC began preliminary feasibility work during the quarter.
Australia
For Australia, the company highlighted an extremely active period, particularly in the Northern Zone and Jundee East projects.
Results from each location provided encouragement for the projects.
At the Northern Zone, preliminary results showed evidence of ‘large prospectivity’ and allowed the preparation of a direct target model to inform future drilling efforts. Work on a geological model is also underway.
Memon meanwhile highlighted the success to date in the Jundee East area, where results are seen as “hugely encouraging”.
He described Jundee East as the standout in the portfolio and said evidence indicates it may be host to a gold bearing greenstone belt similar to that at the nearby Jundee Gold Mine, which has produced over 7mln ounces of gold.