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Title: Apacheta, a new geothermal prospect in Northern Chile

Abstract

The discovery of two high-temperature fumaroles, with gas geochemistry compatible with an economic geothermal system, established Apacheta as one of the most attractive geothermal exploration prospects in northern Chile. These remote fumaroles at 5,150 m elevation were first sampled in 1999 by ENAP and its partners, following up on the reports of a CODELCO water exploration well that flowed small amounts of dry steam at 4,540 m elevation in the valley 4.5 km east of the fumaroles. The prospect is associated with a Plio-Pleistocene volcanic complex located within a NW-trending graben along the axis of the high Andes. The regional water table is 4,200 masl. There are no hot springs, just the 88 degrees C steam well and the 109 degrees and 118 degrees C fumaroles with gas compositions that indicate reservoir temperatures of greater than or equal to 250 degrees C, using a variety of gas geothermometers. An MT-TDEM survey was completed in 2001-2002 by Geotermica del Norte (SDN), an ENAP-C ODELCO partnership, to explore the Apacheta geothermal concession. The survey results indicated that base of the low resistivity clay cap has a structural apex just west of the fumaroles, a pattern typically associated with shallow permeability within amore » high temperature geothermal resource. SGN plans to drill at least one exploration well in 2002-03 to characterize a possible economic resource at Apacheta.« less

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Office of Power Technologies. Office of Geothermal and Wind Technologies; Empresa Nacional del Petroleo (US)
OSTI Identifier:
815476
Report Number(s):
LBNL-50457
R&D Project: G30307; TRN: US200319%%274
DOE Contract Number:  
AC03-76SF00098
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: Geothermal Resources Council 2002 Annual Meeting, Reno, NV (US), 09/22/2002--09/25/2002; Other Information: PBD: 24 May 2002
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY; 58 GEOSCIENCES; CLAYS; ECONOMICS; EXPLORATION; FUMAROLES; GEOCHEMISTRY; GEOTHERMAL EXPLORATION; GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES; GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS; GEOTHERMOMETERS; HOT SPRINGS; PERMEABILITY; RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE; STEAM; WATER TABLES; Geothermal Legacy; APACHETA CHILE GEOTHERMAL EXPLORATION GEOCHEMISTRY RESISTIVITY

Citation Formats

Urzua, Luis, Powell, Tom, Cumming, William B, and Dobson, Patrick. Apacheta, a new geothermal prospect in Northern Chile. United States: N. p., 2002. Web.
Urzua, Luis, Powell, Tom, Cumming, William B, & Dobson, Patrick. Apacheta, a new geothermal prospect in Northern Chile. United States.
Urzua, Luis, Powell, Tom, Cumming, William B, and Dobson, Patrick. 2002. "Apacheta, a new geothermal prospect in Northern Chile". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/815476.
@article{osti_815476,
title = {Apacheta, a new geothermal prospect in Northern Chile},
author = {Urzua, Luis and Powell, Tom and Cumming, William B and Dobson, Patrick},
abstractNote = {The discovery of two high-temperature fumaroles, with gas geochemistry compatible with an economic geothermal system, established Apacheta as one of the most attractive geothermal exploration prospects in northern Chile. These remote fumaroles at 5,150 m elevation were first sampled in 1999 by ENAP and its partners, following up on the reports of a CODELCO water exploration well that flowed small amounts of dry steam at 4,540 m elevation in the valley 4.5 km east of the fumaroles. The prospect is associated with a Plio-Pleistocene volcanic complex located within a NW-trending graben along the axis of the high Andes. The regional water table is 4,200 masl. There are no hot springs, just the 88 degrees C steam well and the 109 degrees and 118 degrees C fumaroles with gas compositions that indicate reservoir temperatures of greater than or equal to 250 degrees C, using a variety of gas geothermometers. An MT-TDEM survey was completed in 2001-2002 by Geotermica del Norte (SDN), an ENAP-C ODELCO partnership, to explore the Apacheta geothermal concession. The survey results indicated that base of the low resistivity clay cap has a structural apex just west of the fumaroles, a pattern typically associated with shallow permeability within a high temperature geothermal resource. SGN plans to drill at least one exploration well in 2002-03 to characterize a possible economic resource at Apacheta.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/815476}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri May 24 00:00:00 EDT 2002},
month = {Fri May 24 00:00:00 EDT 2002}
}

Conference:
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