Some interesting reading below. I have excerpted a few paras from the article that mention or seem to apply to ECU. I particularly like the reference to ECU holding the 4th largest silver resource base.

http://markostake.blogspot.com/2010/06/some-considerations-for-selecting.html

Some considerations in selection junior miners

1. Location

Personally, I prefer to stick to North American companies which operate in some combination of Canada, the United States and Mexico. I tend to avoid companies with the bulk of their operations in Africa.

2. What Aspect Of Mining Is The Company Involved With?

The junior mining sector is basically divided into explorers, developers and producers. The explorers are like oil wildcatters. They can have the greatest gains and the most severe losses. Some junior explorers to consider are U.S. Gold Corporation (UXG), Explor Resources Inc. (EXSFF) and Vista Gold Corporation (VGZ).

3. Is The Company Profitable?

The only companies that can report profits are producers. Some geo-politically safe producers include Aurizon Mines Ltd. (AZK), New Gold Inc. (NGD), ECU Silver Mining Company (ECUXF) and Hecla Mining Company (HL). Each of these is profitable and getting more so, based on recent financial reporting

4. Is There An Asset Play?

Some companies are primarily an asset play. They hold already drilled and largely delineated projects. Probably the best asset play out there is Seabridge Gold (SA), which boasts more than 60 million ounces of economically viable Gold, in addition to a slew of other minerals such as Copper.

Producers can also be terrific asset plays. ECU is not only currently producing and profitable, it also boasts what is now the 4th largest resource base of Silver, at a fraction of the market capitalization of high-quality giants such as Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW) and Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS).

5. Does The Company Have Sufficient Financial Resources?

6. Is This Company Likely To Acquire Or Be Acquired?

Undoubtedly, as the mining industry starts to boom, there will be a slew of mergers and acquisitions. Any company making an acquisition will typically do a "stock-for-stock" transaction, which will dilute the acquiror while paying a premium to the acquiree.

This is why I tend to avoid the larger companies. To remain competitive, it's more cost-effective to acquire in-ground assets than to go through a long and expensive exploration, drilling and development process. Existing projects have far less risk.