"All predictions are for silver and gold to reach new highs by March 2009.

So stop drilling, if you have to. But don't let the bastards get what they want."

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The way I see things ECU needs higher production levels to become self-financing so the deal must be done and marginally higher PM prices will not help the bottom line that much at current production rates. It is possible Gold & Silver prices take another tumble in the coming months, which would have required us to finance at even lower prices. Then people would have been angry at management for not taking advantage of higher prices today. At any rate another good reason to support the bought deal is that it also addresses the high financial risks facing the sector. More to the point it's possible the financial system collapses in the coming months, in which case the money would run out altogether and ECU gets snatched up by the vultures leaving shareholders with squat. That's a rather high price to pay tomorrow for not "letting the bastards get what they want" today. Considering all these things I'm thankful Mr Altman managed to put us in a more secure financial position today even if the price isn't as high as I'd prefer and will sleep much better at night knowing ECU has lots of fresh gas in the tank to move it further down the road to self-reliance.