Meanwhile, Eagle Bay is currently acting as operator on the Emily-1 oil exploration well in South Australian Cooper Basin permit PEL 182.

The well encountered a "fair" oil show in the primary objective Basal Birkhead/Top Hutton formation at a depth of 1901.5 metres, Eagle Bay said yesterday.

This morning, the company announced that Emily-1 had been drilled to a total depth of 2324 metres with no further shows recorded.

"After making a wiper trip, wireline logs will be run to evaluate the well," Eagle Bay said.

"Drill stem tests may also be run to evaluate any shows or log anomalies."

Participants in Emily-1 are: AuDAX Resources Ltd (39.9%), Eagle Bay Resources NL (operator - 37.6%), Australian Oil Company No2 P/L (12.5%) and White Sands Petroleum Ltd (10%).

But good results from Emily-1 could be overshadowed by the legal action against Rechner.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is alleging that comments made by Rechner in September 2003 regarding the presence of copper and gold at Myall Creek (north of Whyalla) were not substantiated by results of an drilling program undertaken by the company earlier that year.

Rechner appeared before the Perth Magistrates Court on 10 charges of making false or misleading statements.

According to ASIC, four of the charges against Rechner relate to an announcement by Eagle Bay to the ASX (and associated media release) titled 'Whyalla Copper and Gold Find', made by the company in September 2003.

The remaining charges relate to comments made by Rechner to various media outlets on the same date, and in the week leading up to the market releases.

The charges were laid following a referral from the ASX and an investigation by ASIC.

Rechner was not required to enter a plea and was bailed on a personal recognisance of $20,000 and $20,000 surety to reappear on March 24.

A geologist, Rechner has reportedly been involved in several gold and oil discoveries in more than 30 years as a geologist, including terms as operations manager for West Australian Petroleum and Chevron Oil in North Africa.

Based on a presentation Eagle Bay gave at its AGM in November, the company appears to still be active in the Myall Creek region north of Whyalla. It has various additional projects searching for uranium, iron ore, graphite and onshore and offshore oil and gas.