• McCoy 1 was drilled to a total depth of 5,562ft mDKB (1,695m) on time, on budget,
with no HSE incidents.
• The objective of McCoy 1 was to test the broader potential of the hydrogen and
helium system away from historic wells (i.e. not twinning wells). Hence, this well
drilled into the same fault block as Sue Duroche 3 but almost 6 miles (approx. 9
kms) away to the southeast.
• McCoy 1 mud gas samples have verified concentrations of hydrogen up to 83%
and helium up to 5% compared to Sue Duroche 3 (drilled in April 2025) with
reported concentrations of hydrogen up to 96% and helium up to 5%1,2
• The Company has 3,116 contiguous net acres around the McCoy 1 well site right
next to the Interstate Highway (I70) which is a major arterial route crossing the
USA stretching for ~3500km in a West-East direction across 10 states.
• Continued, elevated helium concentrations recorded throughout the HyTerra
exploration drilling campaign are significant as Kansas is the leading producer of
helium in the US with decades of continued production from the Hugoton natural
gas field with concentration ranges of 0.25 to 2.5% helium3
.
• A workover rig has already completed operations to convert McCoy 1 to an
appraisal well. The clean-up of the well bore by removing drilling fluid was
successful. Further updates will the provided once all the McCoy 1 results become
available in coming weeks.
HyTerra Limited (HyTerra or the Company) has now drilled three wells back-toback between April and July 2025 at the Nemaha Project in Kansas, USA. All three wells are drilled
on time, on budget, and with no HSE incidents. This exploration program funding is sourced from
an investment in the Company by Fortescue Future Industries Technologies Pty Ltd.
HyTerra Executive Director, Mr Benjamin Mee said “Continuing to see elevated hydrogen and
helium gas shows is very encouraging, especially as McCoy 1 was a 9 km step out from Sue
Duroche 3 within the same geological play. HyTerra is excited to now see if McCoy 1 is also naturally
fractured and capable of inflow like Blythe 13-20 and Sue Duroche 3. This will be able to be
determined once all the data is analysed. These results will feed into the design and planning of a
production test program required to fully appraise steady state gas flow rates and compositions. I’m
glad we acquired quality static and dynamic data across three wells as this is getting exciting.”
McCoy 1 Exploration Results to Date
Murfin Rig 116 spudded McCoy 1 at 12:30pm on the 10th July 2025 (Kansas time) and was drilled
to a total depth of 5,562ft mDKB (1,695m) on time, on budget, with no HSE incidents (Figure 1). The
wireline logging operations are completed. This is the deepest well the Company has drilled to
date. The well drilled through approximately 1,430ft (435m) of sedimentary rocks and 4,132ft
(1260m) of Pre-Cambrian basement.
SLB (formerly Schlumberger) recorded mud gas log data in real time during drilling, collecting mud
gas samples at surface. The mud gas log recorded multiple elevated hydrogen and helium gas
readings while drilling, further validating the presence of a hydrogen and helium play in this area
previously seen in Sue Duroche 3 (22nd May ASX Release). Mud gas samples analysed by Isotech
Laboratories Inc. verified hydrogen concentrations of up to 83% and elevated helium concentrations
of up to 5%1
.
The high hydrogen and helium concentrations seen in McCoy 1 are not only some of the highest
observed in the HyTerra’s drilling program to date, but they were also observed within the PreCambrian Basement rocks. This aligns with HyTerra’s predictive model for hydrogen and helium at
the Nemaha Project.
The well site is located around 9km southeast of Sue Duroche 1, 2, and 3 drilled in 2008, 2009, and
2025, respectively. McCoy 1 drilled into the same geological play as Sue Duroche 3 within a fault
block defined by seismic known as the Zeandale High (Figure 2). Sue Duroche 3 reported hydrogen
concentrations of up to 96% and helium concentrations up to 5%2
. The Company has 3,116
contiguous net acres around the McCoy 1 well site right next to the Interstate Highway (I70) which
is a major arterial route crossing the USA stretching for ~3500km in a West-East direction across
10 states.
Learnings from the previous two wells have been incorporated into the design of McCoy 1 with a
modified well design providing significant cost and efficiency benefits. This has enabled the well to
be drilled deeper than the previous two wells at a much-reduced cost per foot and allowed the
collection of conventional core for detailed analysis in combination with Sue Duroche 3's side wall
cores.
McCoy 1 Appraisal Results to Date
A workover rig arrived immediately after the McCoy 1 exploration well was drilled. The objective
was to clean up the well bore and install downhole monitoring equipment to appraise the inflow
potential in the Pre-Cambrian basement section.
HyTerra is pleased to announce the operations to convert McCoy 1 to an appraisal well were
completed safely. The clean-up of the well bore by removing drilling fluid was successful.
Next Steps
Further updates will the provided once all the McCoy 1 results become available in coming weeks.
Subsequently, all the results from all the wells drilled to date will be now analysed and integrated
into designing and planning a production testing program.
Gas concentrations (‘shows’) seen in the mud log and extracted at surface from drilling mud while
drilling, combined with fractured formations capable of inflow, is encouraging. However, a
production test will be required to fully appraise steady state gas flow rates and compositions.
This announcement has been authorised for release by the Board of Directors.