1. Certainly one of the reasons the original mill permit was approved so quickly was the "water only" process. But it's been two years now. Why wait that long running the mill at a loss? And the mill is pretty isolated- certainly if any mill could get a leach permit it would be for some place like Diamond Creek.

2. I knew the Sinker permit was delayed because of extra work required after the Hecla mine deaths. But that was a while ago, and supposedly the rehab of the Sinker, including the extra rock bolting, etc., was completed last year, and they said that bids for the drilling work were going out. Not to mention the announcement in November that they planned to start drilling in January.