Magma Energy's drill site in Chile.

Magma Energy announced the company has been granted an exploitation permit by the government of Chile for a 50 Mw geothermal plant at the Laguna de Maule property in Chile. Laguna de Maule is next to another property called Pellado, and together they make up the Mariposa Geothermal Reservoir. Magma Energy earlier reported a 320 MW inferred resource for this area.

The company is drilling the second of its five slim holes in the Mariposa Reservoir. Initially, temperatures near 200 degrees Celsius were discovered at depths of about 650 meters. The drilling is to be concluded in December this year, and is to total about USD 15 million in costs. Magma is targetting the depth of about 1500 meters for each hole. Once results have been collecte and analyzed, Magma Energy will be able to proceed with the development of Phase 1 with 50 MW of capacity. Mariposa is about 25 km away from the nearest installed power lines, so there will be additional work needed in order to connect the geothermal power plant with the grid.

[source: Magma Energy]