Comet Ridge steps up NZ coal-seam gas search

Oct. 7 (BusinessDesk) – Brisbane-based coal-seam gas explorer Comet Ridge Ltd. is stepping up its search for deposits on the West Coast of the South Island and in the northern Waikato, with what it says is New Zealand’s first-ever aerial data collection for CSG resources.

The ASX-listed company, with interests also in Queensland and New South Wales, says between 1,000 and 2,000 square kilometres will be surveyed by Perth-based Fugro Airborne Surveys Pty., starting later this year.

The programme, believed to be worth a little over $A1 million, is the second part of a five phase process used to establish the viability of potential CSG resources, which are increasingly sought-after as a new source of natural gas.

Preliminary aerial surveys were conducted in late 2009.

“The first drilling of identified targets is expected to commence in the second half of the 2011 calendar year,” said managing director Tor McCaul.

The exploration permits concerned are PEP’s 50100, 50279 on the West Coast, and 50280 in the Waikato.

(BusinessDesk)