as expected from the company's quarterly report, there were no surprises from today's conference call. the start up at pirquitas is going well, and they have already started the ball mill with tailings. there are the usual commissioning issues, but nothing of any significance. they are fine-tuning the silver circuit, and should be making the first shipment by month end.

costs will be higher to start, more than $30/ton compared to the $26/ton estimated for the life of mine. this is largely due to the current stripping ratio of 11-to-1, which should come down to 7:1 by year end. it is expected to reach the life of mine average of 4.7:1 by the fourth year, and then continue lower. they expect to reach commercial production in the third quarter, with 6 million ounces this year, and then 10 million next year.

at pitarrilla the pre-feas work is almost complete. this study had actually been done last fall, but then had to be recalculated as they decided to optimize operations given the sharp decline in metals prices. pitarrilla is a mining camp, not just a single deposit, with 5 zones (so far) and we should see the first study this summer with others being released as they are available.

at san luis the feasibility study is moving forward, and they should have the environmental survey completed by the end of the year. snowfield will see 20,000 meters of drilling beginning in june, primarily to upgrade inferred resources to m+i, but they will be testing some other zones.

exploration and development is continuing at several other projects, notably diablillos, which should have a new resource estimate next month. the company received an interest payment of $1.6 million on its locked up abcp funds. there is still no market for that commercial paper, but at the very least, that is $1.6 million more than i ever expected to see.