4 January 2016
Alba Mineral Resources plc
("Alba" or the "Company")
Horse Hill-1 Oil Discovery, Weald Basin, UK
Final Flow Test Consent from the UK Oil and Gas Authority
Alba Mineral Resources Plc (AIM:ALBA) announces that it has been notified by Horse Hill Developments Limited ("HHDL") that the Oil and Gas Authority ("OGA") has granted consent for an extended flow test over three separate zones in the Horse Hill-1 ("HH-1") oil discovery well. All necessary permissions to test the well are now in place.
The HH-1 discovery well, drilled at the end of 2014, is located within onshore exploration Licence PEDL137, on the northern side of the Weald Basin near Gatwick Airport, in which Alba owns a 9.75% interest.
Alba's interest in Horse Hill
The HH-1 well is located within onshore exploration Licence PEDL137, on the northern side of the Weald Basin near Gatwick Airport. Alba owns a 15% direct interest in HHDL, a special purpose company that owns a 65% participating interest and operatorship of licence PEDL137 and the adjacent Licence PEDL246 in the UK Weald Basin.
Qualified Person's Statement:
Stephen Sanderson, Executive Chairman of UK Oil & Gas plc, who has over 30 years of relevant experience in the oil industry, has approved the information contained in this announcement on behalf of Alba. Mr Sanderson is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and is an active member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
For further information please contact:
Alba Mineral Resources plc Michael Nott, CEO |
+44 20 3696 4616 |
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP Avi Robinson / James Caithie |
+44 20 7148 7900 |
Dowgate Capital Stockbrokers Limited Jason Robertson / Neil Badger |
+44 1293 517744 |
Glossary
discovery |
a discovery is a petroleum accumulation for which one or several exploratory wells have established through testing, sampling and/or logging the existence of a significant quantity of potentially moveable hydrocarbons |
flow test |
a flow test or well test involves testing a well by flowing hydrocarbons to surface, typically through a test separator. Key measured parameters are oil and gas flow rates, downhole pressure and surface pressure. The overall objective is to identify the well's capacity to produce hydrocarbons at a commercial flow rate |
extended flow test permit |
OGA approval to flow test a well with an aggregate flow period over all zones of up to 90 days. Normal flow test approval is for an aggregate flow period of up to 96 hours |
About Alba
Alba holds interests in the following projects:
· UK onshore oil & gas
o A 15% in Horse Hill Developments Limited, the owner of a 65% participating interest and operatorship of the Horse Hill oil and gas project (Licence PEDL 137 and PEDL 246) ("Horse Hill"), located on the northern side of the Weald Basin near Gatwick Airport.
o An option to farm into 5% of Production Licence 235, which comprises the producing onshore Brockham Oil Field.
· Amitsoq (graphite) - an option to earn up to a 70% interest in a graphite project in Southern Greenland. The licence area comprises the historic Amitsoq graphite mine and is prospective not only for graphite but also for copper, gold, nickel and platinum group elements. During the option period, Alba intends to undertake further historical data acquisition and to carry out field work (ground truthing, mapping and sampling). A remote sensing study is expected to be commissioned to complete this first phase of work (refer to our announcement dated 6 October 2015 for further details).
· Mauritania (uranium) - a joint venture with FOSSE Investments Limited comprising early phase exploration targets.
· Ireland (base metals) - 10 km away from and part of the same target unit as the Pallas Green property.
Alba continues actively to review and discuss other project opportunities which have value-enhancing potential for the Company whether by acquisition, farm in or joint venture in a range of jurisdictions around the world.
