Anticipation of new drilling in Kenya sees Tower Resources (LON:TRP) shares rising again on Thursday.
Following up yesterday’s rally the explorer’s shares were up 14% this morning changing hands at 0.83p each.
The share is now up 25% for the past two days.
Drilling on the Badada-1 well in Kenya is expected to start somewhere between mid-December 2014 and mid-January 2015.
Tower, which has a 15% working interest in the well, said the operator, Taipan Resources, has contracted the GW-190 land rig for planned drilling.
The well, described as a “potential play-opener” by Tower, is planned to be drilled to a total depth of between 3,000 and 4,500 metres to test primary Tertiary age reservoirs and, dependent upon results, secondary upper Cretaceous age reservoirs.
If the Badada-1 well is successful it will de-risk many other prospects and leads within Block-2B and provide important information about the detailed geological evolution of the Anza Basin to aid future exploration.
Preparations at the well site are already underway with a number of auxiliary services and long-lead items already contracted. Gross well costs remain estimated at US$20 to US$25 million (US$3.0 to US$3.75 million net to Tower).
"We are very excited by the upside potential in Block-2B and whilst this is a frontier well, if it succeeds then there is scope for repeating the success several times over,” said Graeme Thomson, chief executive officer of Tower.
“There are already a large number of leads mapped and additional seismic in 2015 could delineate these so that an aggressive exploration programme can follow in 2016/17," he added.