to summarize this morning's conference call, everything is on track at pirquitas. they are looking at commissioning the mine in december, and commercial production in the first quarter. they describe "commercial" production as at least 60% of full capacity, and no specific length of time was stated.

pitarrilla is scheduled for pre-feas this quarter.

san luis will have a new resource estimate this quarter, and a feasibility study is underway on the ayelen vein.

diablillos will have a resource estimate in the 1st quarter of 2009, with pre-feas to follow.

snowfield will have a new resource estimate in 1st quarter of 2009. since they've found a new zone, i'm looking forward to this one.

at pirquitas they expect to ship the first shipment of concentrate in the first quarter of 2009, and they are in final negotiations. the silver circuit is done, as that was the priority since silver represents 75% of the value of the mine. they are still negotiating terms, but their silver is in high demand because of its purity. the tin concentrate is highly marketable due to the supply situation in the tin market.

they are continuing to find more mineralization outside the pit at pirquitas in holes both to the north and east. while this is still preliminary work, it may be evidence that the 14.5 year reserve life will eventually be increased again. they are on track to bring in pirquitas at $220 million, and have eliminated a few cosmetic features, like footpads. (they left the ball mill in.)

the ball mill and generators are on site. the process facility and power plant are the critical path items, and they are on schedule. costs are well controlled, and are not sensitive to increases in diesel or natural gas prices. the price of natural gas is locked in for the first 5 years of the project, and the diesel price is controlled, and trades in a very narrow band.

the company had $145 million in cash at the end of last quarter, which will be more than enough to sustain all of the company's activities until pirquitas begins producing revenue. they actually made a quarterly profit of 18 cents/share, related to the sale of shafter, and the sale of san agustin will yield at least another $30 million, depending on how much mineralization is there.

they don't offer any prediction as to how long the retrenchment in the silver market will last, but they have not adjusted any reserve valuations, and pirquitas is so robust that it will be profitable regardless of the silver price.