| 4/28/2009 8:51:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Geothermal wells drilled, conference set for Thursday in Salida
By Ron Sering - Special to the Mail
Thermal gradient drilling began Monday for six holes to gather information about possible generation of electricity using geothermal energy in Chaffee County.
Personnel at Mount Princeton Geothermal LLC said the first hole will be on land owned by Taylor Adam east of the intersection of CR 289 and 290 at the bridge south of Deer Valley Ranch and west of Dead Horse Lake.
The drilling is the first in several events occurring this week regarding geothermal exploration.
Officials with the governor's energy office will host an all day geothermal conference at Salida Steam Plant at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
Friday, officials of Mount Princeton Geothermal will host a tour of test holes and discuss plans for a project to construct the state geothermal electric generation project in the Mount Princeton area.
The tour will begin at 8 a.m. with breakfast at Mount Princeton Hot Springs followed by a carpool tour.
The wells, the first such exploration in the area since the 1970s, are permitted as monitoring test holes by the Colorado Division of Water Resources.
"The holes are non consumptive (no water pumping) and will be used to measure thermal gradient (temperature change at varying depths) and rock types to determine heat flow in each well," Fred Henderson III, chief scientist for the local geothermal group, said.
"The goal with these six holes is to complete the western side of the high heat flow anomaly drilled by AMAX Exploration Co. in the 1970s."
Test holes will be capped, Henderson said, but left available for later temperature measurements to serve as monitoring holes to detect changes as the program continues.
ASAP Drilling of Buena Vista is conducting the operation which will continue two or three days.
Hole sampling will be conducted by geothermal consultant Dr. Harry Olson, who was manager of geology for AMAX Exploration Co. when it drilled heat flow exploratory holes in the Mt. Princeton area from 1973-75.
Dr. Paul Morgan, geothermal consultant, will conduct actual heat flow measurements.
Additional wells are planned for May and possibly June.
A third land owners' public meeting will be held in June or July, Henderson said, after thermal gradient drilling and geophysical work is completed by Colorado School of Mines.
Henderson said his group will update land owners and interested people in the Chalk Creek area then regarding results of the thermal gradient drilling and future exploration plans.
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