Scientists plan to dig a deep fracking 'abyss'

The push for fracking in SA is gaining momentum. Several research projects are under way to probe the environmental effects of fracking shale gas in the Karoo – including one that would entail digging one of the deepest holes on Earth. According to a BusinessLIVE report, senior Nelson Mandela University geologist, Professor Maarten de Witt, said: ‘We want to go deep into the abyss, to a depth of at least 10km.’ The hole would be more than twice the depth of AngloGold Ashanti’s 4km-deep Mponeng gold mine (among the deepest mines in the world) but shallower than Russia’s 12km Kola Superdeep Borehole, the deepest hole in the world. At a conference in Port Elizabeth, De Witt and other scientists provided a glimpse into some of the preliminary research work on the controversial plans to hydraulically fracture (frack) the central Karoo region. De Witt indicated that the big hole would most likely be near Cradock in the Camdeboo valley. Likening the proposed research centre to a kind of African ‘Silicon Valley’, he said the focus would be on developing skills and knowledge around deep-drilling, geology and methane measurement. He declined to reveal clear timelines, or details of who might pay for such an ambitious venture, but said the design phase was expected to get under way before the end of the year, the report states.