The 20 cent issue came onto the boards at 25 cents and today had eased back to 23 cents, still encouragingly above par. There is almost 125 million shares on issue.

Craig Burton said the result was a solid debut for the junior which has an eye on the Gulf of Mexico acreage it shares with Novus Petroleum.

"We would anticipate some real action when the deep wells are drilled towards the end of the year. It is in the hands of Novus, who is the operator, but we would be hoping it would be around November," said Burton.

Golden Gate is currently drilling the shallower Jack Frost well (20%) with operator BNP.