In this particular endeavour, (Duhat), I'm afraid he's not...

In this particular endeavour, (Duhat), I'm afraid he's not talking trash.

Alcorn Gold Resources Corp starting in May 2000 (WI 46.6%) used two different coring drill rigs over 18 mths to try and penetrate the San Isidro structure...unsuccessfully.

This is from the Alcorn website

"The contract area (GSEC 93 now SC51) is located in the central part of the Philippine Archipelago, bounded by the islands of Cebu, Leyte and Bohol. It covers 14,000 square kilometers, making it the biggest contract area in the Philippines. It also has the most number of hydrocarbon seeps and shows in the entire country .

The GSEC 93 consortium lead by Alcorn Gold focused its exploration thrust on the onshore part of the concession area. Oil has been detected on the rock samples collected from the contract area while an old asphalt mine exists in the nearby town of Villaba. Previous wells drilled in the area detected the presence of gas and oil of sub-economic quantity, presumably because they have not been ideally located.

Previously completed work programs delineated several drillable targets. The San Isidro prospect was selected because it has the best-defined onshore structure based on integrated seismic, aeromagnetic and gravity data. It was decided that drilling a slim stratigraphic hole would be the best option to test the presence of gas and/or oil in the San Isidro structure.

Over a span of eighteen months from May 2000, two core-drilling outfits were contracted to attempt and penetrate the San Isidro structure. Both attempts were unsuccessful to reach the target depth of 1,030 meters, and their best efforts were hampered either by financial or technical deficiencies. Swelling clays and over-pressured aquifers prevented both attempts from drilling beyond 305 meters.

These technical deficiencies on the part of the drilling contractors caused undue project delays. The consortium is now reviewing its options on how to complete the project."

Interesting to note in OEL's last operational update this statment...
" Geological prognosis is unchanged and rig performance is satisfactory to execute the work programme."

A shot at allaying fears of an Alcorn repeat performance??...I guess we'll see over the next week or so.