IT'S not just iron ore stocks that are booming again. Memories of the recent market bust have seemingly faded already, and investors are looking for the next new thing.
Cue geothermal. Kuth Energy (KEN) got a good bounce after reporting its first inferred geothermal resource in Tasmania -- and how refreshing these days to note that Kuth kept the wraps on the news until the market as a whole found out, with none of that unexplained heavy buying in the days just before the announcement. The resource of 260,000 petajoules is enough to drive a 280 megawatt power station.
Other recent news includes Geothermal Resources (GHT) reporting 84,000PJ at its South Australian project and a second project proving up for Panax Geothermal (PAX).
Two other plays to watch might be Torrens Energy (TEY) and Real Brand Holdings (RBH).
If you want big resources, Torrens is your outfit. According to executive director John Canaris, his company is sitting on 780,000PJ. What's more, the company's ground is bisected by existing grid power transmission lines -- no point having hot rocks in the middle of nowhere. The Parachilna project in South Australia was not far enough advanced to get one of the first grants from the federal government's $50 million geothermal fund, but this company is clearly expecting to be in the queue when the next lot is doled out.
That will be needed, as between $10m and $20m is needed for a deep geothermal hole. Torrens reports that its seismic work has shown it does indeed have a hot rock target of some size at Parachilna.
Meanwhile, the infrequently traded Real Brand (last sale at 2c) has turned its back on the days when it did licensing for brands sponsoring the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, and is acquiring private company Deep Energy, which has geothermal prospects in South Australia.
