After drilling to a depth of 459.6 meters at our final (8th) Lebaye hole, we are completing Phase 1 of the GOE-DEEP drilling project. We thank all of our on-site team members and Capital's drillers for their excellent contributions to a successful drilling season! Amazing job!
We are waiting to reach the basement at our site in Lebaye. Our initial plan was to drill the entire sequence from the FC Formation down to the basement. However, the Okondja Subbasin continues to surprise us with its unexpected depth. What insights will these remarkable rocks reveal?
GOE-DEEP goes village! Today, our team visited Ekala. We discussed our research project, distributed T-shirts and information booklets, and, as the school year is approaching, also helped the kids with their school supplies. The chief expressed her gratitude, highlighting that no company in the area have taken the initiative to engage in similar efforts. Her words emphasised the essence of our commitment, and the warm reception will remain in our memories.
Sunny day in Lebaye! The team hosted GOE-DEEP's founding mother, Karen Bakakas. In addition to fruitful discussions on the Franceville Basin, we discussed the positive impact of our drilling project on the future generation of Gabonese geologists. Karen emphasised how her interactions with the international community have contributed to her development as a scientist. Her advice for female students? "Identify yourself as a problem-solver, not by your gender." She encouraged confidence, stating that if you are self-assured, people will treat you the way you deserve. Karen, thank you for making this dream a reality!
Shall we call it Bad Religion? Our generator was gone. During longer projects, things often go wrong and facilities break down, and GOE-DEEP is no exception. Fortunately, despite our setbacks, we have our very own saviour, Prof Alexis Ndongo from Masuku University. While he disappeared from life on the site, our drillers shared their power to ensure our data entries in the database. And then in the third hour, Alexis rose to rescue us once again. Merci beaucoup de nous sauver, Alexis!
Fluid sampling requires teamwork. A slow and steady upward pull on the tube keeps the outgoing drill mud at a high level, making it ideal for filling sample bottles for hydrochemistry. Including today’s sampling, our team has collected a total of 64 fluid samples. These include the source water, the drill fluid injected into the hole, and the drill mud that is removed from the hole.
Curious visitors from the village of Ekala offered our outreach experts, Cedric and Kennedy, to shine. Kennedy, who is working with Capital Drilling throughout Gabon, returned with us to his home village, Ambinda and Okondja, where he attended school. His enthusiasm for explaining our project and drilling in the local language is exceptional, and we truly appreciate his engagement.
The black shales of the FB2b interval in the Lebaye hole, located at a depth of 50-60 meters, contain morphologically diverse, multigenerational pyrite aggregates that reach sizes of several centimetres. Could some of these aggregates have originated from the earliest known colonial organisms, as previous studies on aggregates from the corresponding interval in the Franceville Subbasin have suggested?
A slower drilling progress allowed us to visit nearby outcrops. Chemical weathering occurs rapidly and intensely in tropical rainforests due to high temperatures and abundant rainfall, as demonstrated by these rocks. The effects of weathering are observed down to a depth of 40 meters, posing challenges to drilling through the weathering horizon. Our cores provide access to the remarkable geological archive, which has remained unaffected by near-surface weathering.
Our drilling crew got rewarded! The management of Capital Drilling awarded our team for their outstanding operational performance and commitment to excellent drilling operations. This certificate was presented for achieving the highest meters drilled in July 2025, maintaining the best-kept rig across all company sites, and upholding high standards in safety, productivity, and team discipline. We take pride in this achievement and want to thank you for a fantastic drilling season together!
We are pleased to report that our previous site (5075_07) in Ambinda has been rehabilitated. With the support of the local community, avocado, butterfruit, lemon, and mango trees have been planted. We sincerely thank them and the rehabilitation manager for their outstanding efforts!
First core on deck! We have started drilling on our new site in Lebaye. After a few meters of weathered FB Formation, we penetrate the cherts of the FC Formation of the Okondja Subbasin.
While the drillers are moving the equipment, the team prepares for the start of drilling at the new site in Lebaye and coordinates the final transport of our core boxes.
Between holes, we review our achievements and reflect on our recent experiences. Moreover, we are using our time off to unwind and explore the nearby Seb river in Okondja.
Hole 5075_07_A in Ambinda has been finished just in time to celebrate Gabonese Independence Day on August 17! This morning, we completed our drilling at a depth of 513.3 meters after 200 core runs and filling 140 core boxes within 10 days.
One night, one bit! If the rock is becoming harder, specific drilling bits (series 14/15) are necessary to penetrate it. So happened a few nights ago when we went through a chert interval. Our hole has encountered many changes between harder and softer rocks, necessitating several bit changes to reach our depths.
The drilling crew achieved three 100% one-core-piece runs in just 20 hours! Following the successful core recoveries from a few days ago, the night shift demonstrated its skills by drilling two intact 3-meter cores in one night. The day shift responded with their accomplishment, recovering another intact core by the end of their shift. We are impressed by these achievements. However, we regret to inform you that our core boxes can only accommodate segments of 1 meter.
GOE-DEEP goes deep! We are excited to announce that we have achieved a depth of 400 meters for the first time in our drilling efforts. We are even prouder to share that we reached this milestone by the end of the first week of drilling at site 5075_7 in Ambinda.
We tip our hats to our drillers. They achieved a remarkable second and third recovery of the entire 3-meter core on our drill site in Ambinda. The beautifully laminated sandstones were obtained from depths of 375 and 381 meters and possibly represent the stratigraphic unit FB2a in the Okonja Subbasin.
Eventful day: our team is hosting Melissa and Célita from the Ministère des Mines, along with people from the Ambinda village. We are discussing GOE-DEEP and its benefits for the scientific community, as well as for Gabon's current and future generations of geoscientists. Meanwhile, the show must go on, with boxes being lifted, registered, and new stratigraphy drilled.
Before we bid farewell to the most prepared member of the team, Aivo does what he appreciates most: familiarising geology with students. Thank you for your valuable contribution, Al.
We are starting our Sunday with another milestone: the third night shift has reached the 200-meter mark! Moreover, we are excited to welcome a new team member, Jospin Moukena Mabobo, an MSc student from Masuku University.
Today, we collected the first black shale samples for biomarker analysis in borehole 5075_7_A in Ambinda, following a specific protocol provided by one of our many collaborators. Will these samples contain enough biological molecules to identify early eukaryotic life?
Drilling started at site 5075_7 in Ambinda! While we welcome the new hole, we are saying goodbye to 3 team members, who are completing their last shifts today. Thank you for your excellent and engaged work, Carmel, Ian and Kalle!
While our drillers established the new drill site, the team relocated to the nearby town of Okondja. At the local market, Ian not only found fresh goods, but he also introduced the GOE-DEEP drilling project to the residents.
Goodbye to Stacey - the fastest runner on the team! Thank you for all your great work. The drillers reached a depth of 260 m today (borehole 5075_6_A).
This core from site 5075_5 is full of treasures, including textbook-quality ash beds interbedded with pink dolostones. Could these ashes provide a depositional age for the Francevillian carbonate sequence?
The best way to close a door is to open a new one. 14 fruit trees planted at rehabilitated site 5075_4, also called "Doume site". In the meantime drillers reached 100 m depth at site 5075_5.
