The BHA was recovered early yesterday morning, but then the generator needed servicing so we were unable to update the daily reports, sorry. Since then, a series of wireline logs have been run and the drillers are putting together a new BHA that we hope they will run in tonight so we can drill again tomorrow.
We are sorry to report that the bottom 7.5 m of the BHA is again detached and sitting in the base of the borehole. More details can be found on Rupert's Blog. We are waiting for the previously-used fishing tool to be returned and will attempt to remove the BHA as soon as possible so we can drill again.
We are pleased to report that we started to drill again this evening at 1921. Its only 2 weeks and 1 day since we last generated cuttings from this borehole. We're really looking forward to getting back to 'operations as usual'.
Fishing continued today. There was excitement when the counterweight was recovered around 4am Sunday (9th) morning as this was the last major item that had to be recovered from the borehole before we can continue to drill.
A few last parts of the fishing operations continue tonight. We expect to run in the BHA tomorrow morning. The weather has been fine and sunny for the last few days, facilitating examination of surface 'reference sections' of fault rocks in nearby creeks. These geological observations will guide the team hoping to decide when to switch from open hole to coring based on their observations of cuttings.
Wireline logs run overnight helped identify a few remaining pieces of gear down the hole (they have clear magnetic signatures!). These should be recovered tomorrow and we hope new cuttings will be generated late on Friday.
The drill bit was bought to the surface for the first time in over a week today. There area few more pieces to be recovered with a magnet tomorrow. We are doing a wireline run overnight tonight, and we anticipate drilling again by Friday..
The BHA is at the surface, and the drillers are working hard to ensure it is pulled safely 'on deck'. We expect to be back in action tomorrow. Recent events are explained in the latest installment of Rupert's Blog (see weblink posted on 31 Oct).
Drilling operations are still suspended but we continue to monitor fluid pressure, chemistry, temperature and seismicity of the surround region, and to run shifts on the front office to welcome visitors.
While the drillers are adding weight to their BHA, the wireline team have been running a suite of tools down the borehole. They should finish this by early tomorrow. We are eagerly anticipating the results of this run.
Drilling continued today in sunny conditions. The rate of penetration overnight was around 1m per hour, but it has now sped up to around 2m per hour. We had reached 333 m at 3.30pm.
We have been drilling rapidly (more than 3m/hr) through schist and protomylonite of the Alpine Fault hanging wall all day, and are now at over 300m depth. 24 hr shifts started again tonight and we're hoping to settle into a routine soon.
