Considering bit changes and increasing depths etc....I'm expecting they will be near the bottom of the Barker Creek formation come Tuesday morning.
Now I'm starting to get a bit technical but here's something interesting which will no doubt influence the drilling rates. The lithology of the Ismay formation in today's report is interpreted to be marine sandstone. I was expecting to see limestone all the way down to the bottom of Barker Creek and then sandstone for Alkali Gluch. Drillers will be mindful of the optimum thrust for the varying rock densities (rock impact hardness), since beyond optimum thrust there is very little increase in the drilling rate and unnecessary drill bit wear. The rock impact hardness for sandstone is different to limestone, thus the drilling rates will also differ.
Given the promising early gas shows, it would be silly of them to gun it and start taking short cuts which often leads to unnecessary problems.
I'm sure the drillers will be working 24/7 over the Easter break, so that alone will help maintain the momentum.
GDN Price at posting:
15.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
