I just wanted to add a further comment, about how valuable it is to have Dan Kappes on board with ECU as well.  Kappes Cassidy is a respected consulting firm with a background in metallurgical work.  Much of the new resource report will be supported by metallurgical testing data, thereby improving the overall confidence of the numbers.

This may sound counterintuitive, but not every reported ounce from different projects can be considered equal, even if the same category of confidence, ie. Inferred, Measured, etc.  Some companies play fast and loose with the data and crank out impressive numbers, but at the end of the day the numbers dont work in the real world.  Resources that look good on paper do not turn out to be great mining projects, and stories that look like they cannot work often turn out to be very successful.  In fact, the original narrow vein model at Velardena is a good example of the latter.

Because ECU shut down the mining operations in order to dedicate the mill to test processing of sample material, it has created a great data base of real operating results for the various ore bodies in different parts of the deposit.  By proving that these varying metallurgical properties can be processed in the real world and generate economic recovery levels, the resources that are generated will be seen as reliable and indicative of what is really in the ground.

For the bashers the test mining has been a wall-to-wall joke, because they are either too stupid to appreciate what this data represents, or they are counting on the average investors to have no clue.  But the people who matter - the guys that know mining and are in key positions within the universe of potential partners for ECU in a development JV - you can rest assured that they know full well how solid this resource will be, and they can act and put their reputations on the line because they know the numbers are real.

Stop to think how the carreers of the guys who reccomended working with Bre-X went downhill after it was found they were taken in, hook-line-and sinker.  You better believe each and every project is gone over with a wire brush before any senior player will even consider doing a deal.  And ECU is going to be the gold standard of takeover assets when all of this is done.

Do not sweat a few days of extra waiting for the numbers in other words...

mike