Early exploration of the Aluto geothermal field, Ethiopia (History of discovery well LA-3)

The search for the third well site included the Aluto massif area where resistivity surveys had not found a coherent low resistivity structure in the upper 300 m. This led to the exploration of hot ground using >50 m drill holes. The intersection of a pattern of hot ground and fault- controlled, NNE trending steam vents was used to site the LA-3 well. It was drilled in 1983 to 2144 m depth and encountered 320 °C fluids at the bottom - thus becoming the discovery well of the Aluto geothermal project.