Drilling with mud is working well

Since yesterday's update the drilling has advanced downward significantly; this afternoon we reached a depth of over 250 ft.  Part of the reason drilling has gone so quickly is because we are advancing downward exclusively through cinder.  The drilling runs have produced no consolidated cylinders of core, only small collections of cinder measuring much less than the downward advance of the drill bit.  We believe what is happening is that we are doing some cutting, but mostly pushing our way down through a cinder cone.  Although it would be nice to sample more solid rock, the cinder isn't caving into the hole and we're making good progress.

The drillers feel that making the switch to drilling mud instead of using foam has helped stabilize the hole as well.  Above, you can see the crew mixing up a batch of drilling mud (as well as another basin and a water tank for mixing even more).  Although this mud is a little more expensive to use in a place like PTA where the cost of water is high, the additional expense is worth it if it helps keep the sidewalls from caving in around the drill pipe.