Lakes told the market the well is the second in a three-well core hole program designed to confirm the presence of Golden Beach Formation in the vicinity of the Steele Prospect. Drilling had been delayed as the result of recent heavy rain in East Gippsland.

The well will be followed immediately by a second stratigraphic hole, Protea-1, which is also designed to provide information on the Golden Beach Formation sediments and reservoir quality within the Strzelecki Formation, which the first core hole, Boundary Creek-1, found to have "surprising" porosity and permeability, Lakes Oil said.