Atlas was chosen out of five drilling companies that participated in a tender process.

Metgasco has been able to confirm the rig contract after receiving environmental approval from the NSW government and is ready to go ahead with the well, its only drilling project for 2014.

The well will test for conventional and tight gas potential in the Greater Mackellar structure, following the discovery of gas in conventional sands in the nearby Kingfisher E01 well in 2009.

If significant gas is found, the well will be tested to determine commerciality and then depending on results will be suspended for further testing and evaluation.

If results are poor, the well will be plugged and abandoned and the site – an abandoned, unused quarry – rehabilitated to its pre-drill condition.

An access agreement with the landowner is in place and a community consultation program has been initiated.

Meanwhile, an anti-gas activist group has managed to get its hands on the personal details of the company’s shareholders, with Metgasco stating it doesn’t know how the group got access to the details but that it was not through Metgasco or its agents.

The activist group sent a letter to the shareholders containing statements which the company says are false and misleading, with the potential to give rise to a false market in the trading of Metgasco securities.

The company has denied the letter’s claim that more than 90% of residents are opposed to drilling for unconventional gas, pointing to polls that show strong community support in nearby Richmond Valley.

The company reasserted that it had valid exploration licences, had never used arbitration rights to obtain land access and that it did not stop CSG operations in 2013 due to protest action, claiming that the suspension of operations was due to changes in NSW policy making the project unattractive.

The matter has been referred to the Australian Investment and Securities Commission for investigation.