The Start of more Great Exploration Tracks
Many of Australia’s major Outback Tracks have been put in place either through the quest of linking many remote locations, weather it be for the transportation of stock as was the case of the
Canning Stock Route, the
Birdsville Track and the
Strzelecki Track, the testing of Rockets and Nuclear Devices as was the case in the famous Len Beadell Tracks that criss cross the great deserts of Australia, and in modern times, the exploration for oil and gas in our remote desert locations.
Simpson Desert Tracks usually just keep heading off into the distance
Even today, the Birdsville Track is still important for the transportation of Stock
This famous grader opened up over 6000 kilometres of Outback Roads and was used by the Gunbarrel Construction Party
Len Beadell was famous for his unique plaques and blaze trees
The most famous of Australia’s Oil Exploration Tracks without question would have to be the
Simpson Desert. The first major track that was made in the early 1960’s that crossed the
Simpson Desert was know as Track A and today that very same track, The French Line, carries thousands of vehicles each year. In the quest of finding rich oil fields, there are many such tracks that are made each year and opening up many hundreds of kilometres of remote outback locations.
Typical Simpson Desert Scenery
Just like the Simpson Tracks, but far better scenery out on BMR 3
During our travels along one of my favourite Outback Tracks, the
Anne Beadell Highway in 2012, we came across one such new road that was not there just two years previous. One of my travelling companions, Leigh from Victoria and I headed out to see where these new tracks were going. Our first comments were that we were seeing some very different terrain than the normal
Anne Beadell Highway traveller ever gets to see. From vantage points on the higher dunes, we could see a network of newly constructed tracks that were heading further out into the desert, with other new tracks intersecting them at various points, forming large
grid patterns as they mapped out locations that could be possible new drilling sites. We both commented to each other that it would be great to know where these tracks went. Then within a few kilometres of making our way back to the
Anne Beadell Highway, we came to a major new track that was like billiard table compared the corrugations that are now common on the
Anne Beadell Highway. What was more important was the
track intersection was actually signposted ‘BMR 3’ heading in a general north-south direction, and a sign indicating the
Anne Beadell Highway heading east west.
During my many phone calls with my friend Robin Matthews from
Maralinga, I mentioned the new tracks that we had seen, and from that, Robin organised that we would be able to see where this new major BMR track went on our planned return visit in 2013. After all my pre trip preparations and permits organised, it was time to head back to
Maralinga and the many tracks beyond, with the majority of them a legacy in the quest of searching for either oil or mineral sands.
The last of our Station Tracks on Mobella Station
Travelling along the Dog or Dingo Fence, the largest man made fence in the world, stretching over 5000 kilometres
It is not every day that you meet a Dogger in action
The first of the tracks that fell into this category was the
Nawa Junction Track, that lies to the west of
Mobella Station, in the far west of the State of South Australia, at
Dingo Flat
Gate and goes through to
Nawa Junction, north of Roadside on the Emu to
Maralinga Road. After countless phone calls and emails to Robin at
Maralinga and Wally and Glenn at
Woomera, permits were finally approved and the start of another adventure was put in place. Three days after departing
Port Augusta, we were heading north up the Dog Fence on
Mobella Station and as pre arranged, there was Robin sitting back in his deck chair at our rendezvous point, meeting just like Dr
Livingstone in the wilds of Africa. It was great meeting Robin again and after introducing my party, we all set to where Robin had picked that nights
camp would be, only a few hundred metres from
Dingo Flat
Gate in an old drilling
camp. The county had never looked so great and with a great campfire going, we all settled in for the night. That night we all sat around the campfire, exchanging many stories and it was 11.30pm before I finally called it a night, while David and Robin kept on chatting to
well past midnight.
Dingo Flat Gate marked the start of the Nawa Junction Track and where we met up with Robin
Cooking breakfast at the start of the Nawa Junction Track
This post was marked with a small aluminium marker
The small exploration marker on the Mulga post from April 1973
The next morning was another perfect day out in the bush, a little cool, and yet not one cloud in the sky. With the
camp packed up and all vehicles loaded it was time to head to
Maralinga on this new track to us all. The
Nawa Junction Track was originally a two-wheel track dating back to the days when
Maralinga was in full Nuclear testing mode, but in later years, the track was widened to carry large vehicles that were exploring for mineral sands out in the desert or reliable water sources. Exploring did not take place along the full length of the track, but rather two teams started from each end of the track, leaving a section of around 30 kilometres in the middle of the
sand dune country that was not upgraded. This drive was a mix of different country, from thick stands of black oak, mulga, mallee, blue bush plains and spinifex, all covered in thousands of kilometres of magnificent
wildflowers.
Wildflowers lined the Nawa Junction Track
The Nawa Junction Track near Dingo Flat Gate
Large Wedge Tail Eagles nest in a Black Oak along the Nawa Junction Track
This section of track was lined with Bluebush
Even though the distance through to
Maralinga Village was just over 160 kilometres, it still took us a little over 7 hours to do the drive, as there were many points of interest to see along the way. If time was not an issue, there were a number of other tracks branching off from this main track and it makes you wonder, just how far these tracks headed out into the
Great Victoria Desert. Once we all arrived at
Maralinga, we all set up our camps and settled in for three days in the Village, taking in the interesting town and range tours, plus a number of other drives that are a must see for those that have never been to
Maralinga before.
Further evidence of exploration out along the Nawa Junction Track
Exploration site on the Nawa Junction Track
Black Oak Country
Sections of Mallee
Spinifex sections along the Nawa Junction Track
Spinifex lining the Nawa Junction Track
This very old sign along to the Nawa Junction Track dates back to the late 1950's
After leaving
Maralinga, it would be another five days out in the desert before we would start another of these new mining tracks that had only been down since 2011, which are know as the BMR Roads. Located in the far north west of South Australia, and stretching
well into Western Australia is the exploration area known as the Officer Basin that covers an area in excess of 86.5 million acres, and the Canadian Oil and Gas Exploration Corporation, Rodinia was granted the first onshore exploration licence in the Officer Basin. On the 29th March 2011, Rodinia Oil Corporation updated its shareholders that its Board of Directors had approved the spending of $C52.5 Million or at the time $A54.5 Million with joint partners to search and drill for oil in the Officer Basin.
We were all able to inflate our tyre and leave the corrugations of the Anne Beadell Highway behind
The start of BMR 3
Along the BMR
Great scenery along the BMR
Just like the Simpson Desert but better
Changing scenery along the BMR
Sections of dense spinifex along the BMR
There were a few tight corners
Now Mallee was the dominant species along the BMR
More spinifex patterns
More great scenery along the BMR
Just like the Simpson, the tracks just kept going over the dunes in the distance
And kept going
The first of the large pits that were constructed during the construction of the new super road
This large casing filled the large pits with water
The pits were massive
Where the BMR meets the Voakes Hill - Cook Road
Permission is required to travel the BMR 3
By April 2011 Ensign Australia had begun mobilizing Rig#16 from the Cooper Basin in preparation for its 2000-kilometre journey to commence drilling at the first selected site in the northwest corner of PEL 253 to be known as Mulyawara 1, with a total drilling time expected to take around six weeks. After months of preparing at the site and after a number of setbacks, Mulyawara 1 was finally spudded on the 9th June 2011. By early July they had drilled down more than 795 metres, with surface casing set at 465 metres and by the 1st August they had reached the first intermediate casing point of 1525 metres. Up until this point drilling had been slower than anticipated due to mechanical issues on the rig, drilling in harder
rock than predicted and extremely high rate water inflows from upper zones, which forced drilling from the faster air hammer drilling to the slower underbalanced water rotary drilling.
The start of yet another BMR Road
Marble Gums were now the dominant taller vegetation
Once we entered the fire zone, the impact was devastating, as shown by the Marble Gum than now blocks the track
Sunset out along the BMR east - west Track
Inside the fire Zone
These camels show just how big some of the dunes are out in the Great Victoria Desert
These tracks had not been used for some time
View from one of the dunes showing that the fire burnt a very large area
There were a number of valleys that escaped the devastation of the fire
Local recent rain starting to transform the fire zone along the BMR
These Marble Gums add a special character contrasting with the dunes
Marble Gums dominate this section of the BMR
Along the BMR
Native Cypress Pines were now common along the BMR
Marble Gums along the BMR
After a number of important factors including the fact that Mulyawara 1 had taken three times longer to drill, causing a 75% cost overrun, mechanical and operational issues and extremely poor drilling samples, on the 13th October 2011 Mulyawara 1 was officially plugged and abandoned after drilling to a total depth of 2691.3 metres. The Drilling of Mulyawara 1 was a big learning curve for Rodinia and added to their knowledge of the geologic and hydrocarbon potential of the Officer Basin, and plans were then put in place to drill at another nearby location as a wildcat exploration
well that offered a number of advantages, including:
Peter inspects the capped well of Mulyawara 1
Large pits used during the drilling of Mulyawara 1
Old pits at the drilling site
The pits are far larger than they look
Recently acquired infill seismic had better defined structure.
It was accessible from the existing road
infrastructure that had been constructed.
The distance from Mulyawara 1 to the new Kutjara was only 45 kilometres and would reduce rid travel time.
Mulyawara 1 had demonstrated that most of the drilling at Kutjara 1 could be drilled using PDC bits, which would offer drilling efficiency and should substantially lower the overall evaluation costs.
With a budgeted expenditure of $7 million, Kutjara 1 was spudded on the 2nd November 2011 and by the 12th December 2011 the
well was plugged and abandoned after reaching a total depth of 2453.7 metres. Due to a modified
well design, drilling efficiencies were far superior at Kutjara-1 and that drilling time decreased by approximately two thirds as compared to the Mulyawara-1
well. Even though there were encouraging shows in the
well, the wireline log data after the completions of drilling showed that there were not commercial accumulations of hydrocarbons, and as a result Rig#16 was demobilized from the Officer Basin.
As we all walked around the now abandoned site of Mulyawara 1, we could imagine the hive of activity that would have taken place, and all that remained was the capped wellhead and a number of large water pits that would have been used during drilling. The road
infrastructure was made to last, as
well as the Rodinia
Airstrip that would have seen many planes come and go during the drilling operations. What they did not know at the time was that the newly constructed road would travel right through the very centre of the rare Eucalypts wyolensis
population that only occurs in only two very remote locations in the
Great Victoria Desert. We all felt very privileged to visit and see they special locations in the heart of the
Great Victoria Desert that very few people ever get the opportunity of seeing.
Old Wind Sock at Rodinia Airstrip
Rodinia Airstrip
Old fuel drums at Rodinia Airstrip
The very rare Eucalyptus Wyolensis
Eucalyptus wyolensis
Stopped at the site of the Eucalyptus wyolensis
Approaching the Aboriginal Business Road
A speed limit sign hundreds of kilometres from no where
The BMR Roads were fantastic to drive
Stephen Langman
October 2013