D3 Energy begins Nooitgedacht drilling to expand South African helium reserves

D3 Energy spuds first well in northern expansion of South African helium permit

D3 Energy has begun drilling the first of two appraisal wells at Nooitgedacht, 43 kilometres north of its Bloemskraal reserves in South Africa’s Free State Province, as it works to extend the helium-bearing fairway across its ER315 permit.

The company spudded NGT245 E in the northwestern corner of the wholly owned permit. Budget: A$200,000 to drill and complete.

D3 is targeting faulting and fractures within the Witwatersrand formation to test reservoir deliverability and gather additional helium and methane concentration data. The wells sit near the historical Nooitgedacht Major borehole, which flowed 95,000 standard cubic feet per day during production testing in January with helium at 5.6% and methane at 83.2%.

Read also: D3 Energy begins Nooitgedacht drilling to expand South African helium reserves

Those grades position Nooitgedacht within the upper range of crude helium concentrations reported from unconventional reservoirs in southern Africa. The structural target is the Homestead Fault, one of several corridors that D3 believes may host gas across a 479,409-acre land position spanning three permits.

Managing director David Casey said the drilling represents a methodical push northward from Bloemskraal, where the company submitted a Production Right application last year backed by independently verified reserves. “The spudding of our first well at Nooitgedacht is another step forward in our methodical appraisal of ER315 as we look to build upon and extend the company’s ER315 reserve base some 40 kilometres to the north,” he said.

If NGT245 E intersects gas, D3 plans production testing to assess flow performance and collect data on well interference and spacing—a key variable for operators looking to map out pad economics in fractured basement reservoirs. The second well, NGT245 D, will follow completion of the first.

D3 intends to use the results to inform ongoing development planning at ER315 and potentially lodge additional Production Right applications with South African regulators. That conversion process remains critical for companies working under exploration permits in the Free State, where upstream activity has accelerated over the past three years but production infrastructure is limited.

ER315 has returned helium concentrations as high as 8% from earlier work, according to the company. In a market where spot helium liquidity remains tight and long-term contracts continue to favour sellers, grades above 5% can support standalone helium extraction, though methane co-production typically improves project economics.

D3 also holds PR016 and ER386 in the Free State and has acquired prospective acreage in South Australia’s Arckaringa Basin. The Australian permits add hydrogen and helium optionality, though the South African assets remain the company’s primary focus. Shares trade on the ASX and OTCQX.

Results from the two-well program are expected to strengthen the technical dataset ahead of further reserve definition and permitting work. Drilling at NGT245 E is underway.