OPTIMIZATION OF MUD HAMMER DRILLING PERFORMANCE - A PROGRAM TO BENCHMARK THE VIABILITY OF ADVANCED MUD HAMMER DRILLING

This document details the progress to date on the OPTIMIZATION OF MUD HAMMER DRILLING PERFORMANCE -- A PROGRAM TO BENCHMARK THE VIABILITY OF ADVANCED MUD HAMMER DRILLING contract for the quarter starting January 2001 through March 2001. Accomplishments to date include the following: (1) On January 9th of 2001, details of the Mud Hammer Drilling Performance Testing Project were presented at a ''kick-off'' meeting held in Morgantown. (2) A preliminary test program was formulated and prepared for presentation at a meeting of the advisory board in Houston on the 8th of February. (3) The meeting was held with the advisory board reviewing the test program in detail. (4) Consensus was achieved and the approved test program was initiated after thorough discussion. (5) This new program outlined the details of the drilling tests as well as scheduling the test program for the weeks of 14th and 21st of May 2001. (6) All the tasks were initiated for a completion to coincide with the test schedule. (7) By the end of March the hardware had been designed and the majority was either being fabricated or completed. (8) The rock was received and cored into cylinders.