Hi Panamax!

I am bullish as hell on IPT and its my largerst holding, so I do not want to pound the table too much here, it has its own forum. IPT and GPR have a similar objective to modernize a historic producing district and then run systematic exploration to define new ore zones that were overlooked by the previous operators during hundreds of years of mining. But the stories are very different.

IPT controls a much larger property area with several mines feeding a large central mill facility. GPR has two core areas of operation, and the Guanajuato mines are similar to IPT in that the project is in fact comprised of many historic mines that work the same system, that have been consolidated under ownership of one company. I think GPR has more of a bulk tonnage type operation, while IPT is still largely a niche player working extremely narrow but high grade ore (similar to Topia in that respect).

GPR is much more capital intensive and its critical that management is able to continue their success to generate strong operating results because the share structure is much more diluted than IPT and if GPR cannot 'live off the land' from their mining activity they would have to issue even more shares to raise additional cash. However GPR has the advantage that it is a more significant producer, with potential for 2 million ounces of silver in one year. IPT is far smaller, and is looking to achieve the first 1 million ounce production year. That is an important distinction because institutional money will be attracted to larger producers that are deemed to be more stable.

Both companies are considered to have low proven resources at this time, but I think that entirely underestimates the true potential for each project. When you have mines that have run for 400 years, one should accept that historical Mexican miners literally scratched the surface and there is a lot more silver in situ. The standards on reporting resources have let both companies down and made the process overly conservative.

I will be buying more shares of each company as the opportunity to roll in from other investments at favorable prices is at hand. The market overall is really not paying much attention to either company, or the sector as a whole. I think that will improve in time, and I think both companies will continue to set new milestones for production and income.

cheers!

mike