Panax Geothermal has finished drilling and securing its Salamander 1 well at Penola in south-eastern South Australia.

The company has achieved its goal to reach the 4,000 metre mark by mid-March.

Panax Geothermal reached a depth of 4,025 metres in 44 days, setting a record for the Australian geothermal sector in the process.

The absence of oil and gas has been declared a positive and the company is now preparing to perform a flow test on the well, which is yet to reach its normal temperature after the cooling effect of the drilling process.

Panax aims to set up a 5.9 megawatt demonstration plant at the site by the end of next year before expanding to commercial production scale.