There was some discussion on s****house about re-opening the mine. I suggested it was unlikely this year as Hecla had leased a processing plant for 12 to 18 months. Somebody posted this earlier reply from IR.

"No worries. I had the same question as did you, so I contacted investor relations and this was there reply: Thanks so much for contacting us and for your support of Golden Minerals Company. First, please know that Velardea contains two processing plants. We have leased just one, the oxide plant, to Hecla for a period of between 18 and 30 months beginning July 1, 2015. We did not use this plant while we mined at Velardea in 2014-15. The materials we mined in 2014-15 were sulfide ores that were processed at Velardea's sulfide mill. The anticipated $4-5M lease income from Hecla is very important to us this year. We are seeking sources of oxide material to feed our oxide plant for the medium term, after the Hecla lease concludes, and our Rodeo property is one such potential source of oxide feed. We also are seeking properties with material we can economically transport to Velardea and process at our sulfide mill, as this mill is now idled. Ideally such properties would be within trucking distance of Velardea and show the possibility of near-term production with low development costs. Our Cordero project is one such prospect for sulfides. Insofar as restarting Velardea's production: our 2015 cash cost per payable silver ounce (including byproduct credits) was around $22/oz. Thus, silver would need to show signs of sustaining prices north of this point before producing at Velardea makes sense. The Hecla lease has no impact whatsoever on our decision to reopen this property. Lastly, we also have a 60M+ oz silver property in Salta, Argentina. We have conducted significant exploration at this property and it has sat quietly in a holding pattern for the last few years, as we need to secure a partner with whom to further explore and ultimately develop it. We are hopeful that with the new regime change in Argentina, this property might move forward in the near future. I would direct you to our 2015 10-K, which contains additional details about the questions you have asked and more. Specifically, pages 14-16, 22-24 and 40-42 contain discussions about our properties. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. Regards, Karen Winkler Director of Investor Relations Golden Minerals Company 350 Indiana Street, Suite 800 Golden, CO 80401 T 303.839.5060 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "