Another 117 feet

The number 117 must be our lucky number, because we received almost exactly that same footage of rock core again today.  The picture below shows the 27 boxes that we filled today.  We stack the core boxes with their lids off during the day so the sun can dry the rock, then bring the boxes inside at the end of the day so they can be dried even further by a dehumidifier.

As of early this afternoon, drilling progress stood at 1416 ft.  As we progress downward, the hole is "cleaning up," which means there is less cave-in material falling in around the drill string as we drill.  In turn, this is leading to more maximum length (10 ft) core runs and longer drill bit life.  The longer a drill bit lasts, the less often removal of all the pipe to change the bit is necessary.  Finally, it all adds up to more rock per day!