Hi Sparesilver!

I think the reason ECU is going to the trouble of a PFS is that it will answer the question of whether they can go it alone, or if they need to find a development partner. We know they plan to continue with aggressive exploration. What is the point of adding millions more ounces of silver if you already have enough mineral inventory to run for 20 years? Well, if you believe that big deposits move to the front of the line for acquisition appeal, and you get the idea that you cannot raise the money to develop the deposit on your own without diluting the hell out of the float, then you go ahead and drill off a bigger deposit, and get the ducks lined up to prove the economics with a PFS. Then you hold out a 'for sale' sign, and let the bidding begin. That is my personal take on the situation.

I know ECU has already received expressions of interest from other companies. If CDE thought PJO was worth a billion bucks, why not believe that ECU was also considered? And there are other players with deeper pockets than CDE lurking out there.

The other bonus of a PFS is that it will also help in the creation of a 5-year mine plan. Altmann indicated that just mining the higher grade ore would make the remaining bulk tonnage material in that zone uneconomic. So you cannot just randomly start mining and let the future take care of itself. On the other hand, I know there are veins that are isolated from other resource areas that ECU could start mining right away to generate positive cash flow again. So having some form of study on hand to investigate that while they wait for a deal to come together seems like the right plan.

cheers!

mike

PS: If silver does make a break above $20, then the degree of urgency among the senior players to close an acquisition will just increase too. With the current fundamentals, owning a big silver deposit is like a license to print money. Even lower grade ore will be immensely profitable in a large operation. Whether investors appreciate that fact and bid up the shares of ECU or not, I know that other mining companies will be very much aware of it.