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Technical

Weora Limited holds five Mineral Permit applications strategically located across Aotearoa NZ: PPA60861 ‘Green Hills’, PPA60862 ‘West Dome’, PPA60863 ’Whakatu’, PPA60875 ‘King Country’ and PPA60864 ‘Waikato’.

These permit locations have large deposits of ultramafic Dunite and Serpentine, which has high concentration of Magnesium (up to 50%). The MgO in these Dunite rock reacts with injected CO2 to mineralize it – effectively trapping it, forever.

Within our five permits across Aotearoa NZ sits several trillion tonnes of ultramafic Dunite rock capable of safely storing centuries of carbon emissions.

For a glossary of climate change acronyms, click here.

PPA60861 Green Hills

  • Green Hills is located on farmland on the southern coast of Southland.
  • We are investigating the potential of the mineral Olivine, contained in the above and below ground Dunite and other mafic lithologies of the Greenhills Igneous Complex, as a precursor material for carbon sequestration .
  • The olivine resource is a potential feedstock to produce magnesium for use in industrial carbon metamorphosing processes or direct injection of CO2 in situ for underground carbon mineralisation sequestration.
  • A number of other industrial by-products may result from this process, including building products and cement feed.
  • PPA60861 lies in close proximity to the port at Bluff as well as significant CO2 emitters such as the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter, fertiliser production, forestry and milk factories.

PPA60862 West Dome

  • West Dome is located close to the township of Mossburn, in north west Southland.
  • Most of the previous exploration within the West Dome area has been focused the Platinum Group Elements (PGE’s).
  • The West Dome Project objective is to look at the suitability of the West Dome magnesium-rich ultramafic rocks/minerals, above and below ground, as part of the Dun Mountain Ophiolite belt, for carbon metamorphosing.
  • Mapped Serpentinite bodies across the application area are the initial targets for study.
  • West Dome is close to the Manapouri to Bluff Electric Power Line, which may open up direct air capture opportunities.
  • Red Mountain (25 km2) is the largest of a chain of massifs that stretch from the Alpine Fault in Westland to the Little Red Hills in Southland, a distance of 30 km.

PPA60863 Whakatu

  • Whakatu is situated on the Western slopes of the Richmond Range, Tasman Region, east of the city of Nelson.
  • Above and below ground mapped Dunites and Harzburgite bodies are the initial targets.
  • Buried magnetic highs to the west of the Bryant Range may be associated with a folded portion or fault slice of the Dun Mountain ophiolites beneath quaternary cover.
  • The Early Permian Dun Mountain Ultramafic Group have a semi-continuous strike length of 70 km within the application area. The ultramafic rocks of east Nelson rarely exceed 1 km in width except in the vicinity of Red Hills where the rocks are circa 9 km wide.
  • Nelson district is renowned for its forestry, fishing and other processing industries, all of which are CO2 emitters.

PPA60875 King Country

  • King Country is situated on farmland in South Waikato – King Country, North Island.
  • Observed magnetic anomalies along the application area are initial targets.
  • A known near surface Serpentinite occurrence is being actively mined at the Wairere Serp Quarry, Southeast of Piopio, for agricultural lime.
  • The Wairere Serpentinite, a 650 metre long by 50 metre wide Serpentinite lens, occurs along the NNE trending Waipa Fault.
  • Previous exploration activity in the area has centred on oil and gas exploration with 10 petroleum wells drilled in the application area.
  • Methanex’s Methanol Plant at Motunui is approx. 50 km to the east of PPA60875. Methanex burns ~45% of Aotearoa NZ’s natural gas output and is a large emitter of CO2.

PPA60864 Waikato

  • King Country is situated on the rolling farmland of North Waikato.
  • Near surface ultramafic rocks/minerals of the Dun Mountain Ophiolite belt, are a potential mineral resource for carbon sequestration.
  • Observed magnetic anomalies from the 2007 Sinosteel aeromagnetic survey within the application area are the initial targets for exploration.
  • Previous exploration activity in the area has centred on coal exploration.
  • Huntly Power Station lies adjacent to the NE boundary of PPA60864. This Power Station is one of the country’s largest emitters of CO2
  • burning about 250,000 tonnes of coal per month, or 500,000 tonnes of emissions per month.
  • Immediately to the north lies NZ Steel’s Glenbrook operation and many other heavy carbon-emitting industries.