But firms will be penalised if they fail to drill the promised test wells.

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Sirius Minerals was given permission to test drill at a number of sites between Whitby and Scarborough in early 2011.

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The firm said it also intends to submit an application for a test drill in Somerset but would not reveal where this would take place.

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This blazing fire and billowing black smoke came from a test drill at Taq Taq, an oilfield 30 miles southwest of Irbil in the Kurdish region.

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The council said two companies were applying to Mendip district council for permission to test drill for the gas, which is found in shale formed from deposits of mud, silt, clay and organic matter.

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The application to test drill near the village of Llandow in the Vale of Glamorgan may still happen, and there are six other potential drilling sites in south Wales accordiing to Gerwyn Williams, of Bridgend-based Coastal Oil and Gas Limited.

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Curiosity will likely drill a number of shallow test holes, using the tailings to scrub the metal bit of any contaminants carried from Earth.

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South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told a parliamentary committee in Seoul that the activity signaled an imminent test firing or military drill, according to the semi-official South Korean news agency Yonhap.

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South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told a parliamentary committee in Seoul that the North has moved a medium-range missile to its East coast for an imminent test firing or military drill, according to the semi-official South Korean news agency Yonhap.

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