". . . .Fortunately, there are many competent, experienced technical people working in the area now."

One can not argue with that.  Having a plethora of consultants to chose from is better than none.

Meanwhile, the potential for drilling is not enough to make me jump back in.  There will be a lot of time and money spent between now and executing the deal to fund drilling - drilling is not a given, as far as I can tell.  

Drilling at Hay Mountain is what I want to see, not something that may help the company survive until then.