January 3, 2018 - Wet drilling

Ali, Jason and Nerilie in the drill trench.

Today we passed 150m depth in the drill tent. We are currently in "wet drilling" mode, in which we add drill liquid to the borehole to balance the increasing pressure differential between the deep ice and the surface.

The drill liquid also helps the drill to work better, acting as a lubricant and improving circulation of the ice shavings away from the cutters. We continue drilling each day, aiming for an average drilling production of about 15 m per day, which should allow us to successfully achieve the project goal of 300m depth in good time.