It has been a while since I looked at the profitability of ECU based on their December 10, 2008 NI43-101. When this report came out, metal prices were in the dumpster. Based on current metal prices the outlook for ECU is very impressive.

Following is the amount of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred resources that ECU has currently proved up:

Gold: 2,052,000 ounces @ $1050/oz = $2,154,000,000 (31% of total)

Silver: 151,528,000 ounces @ $17.50/oz = $2,652,000,000 (38% of total)

Lead: 1,028,613,000 lbs @ $1/lb = $1,029,000,000 (15% of total)

Zinc: 1,250,872,000 lbs @ $0.90/lb = $1,126,000,000 (16% of total)

Total Value = $6,961,000,000 x 70% avg recovery = $4,873,000,000

Total tonnage = 30,469,000 tonnes

Average value / tonne = $228.5 x 70% recovery = $160/tonne

The cutoff used in the December 08 report was $25/tonne for bulk mining and $45/tonne for narrow mining. If our average cost is $35/tonne and our sales are 90% of $160/tonne = $144/tonne, our profit would be $109/tonne. A 5,000 tpd sulphide mill would generate an annual profit of about $200 million per year. Just gussing, but if such a mill cost $300 million, it would pay for itself in 18 months which is pretty good for such a major operation. This size mill would combine with the current oxide mill well and ECU's tonnage would keep the sulphide mill going for over 15 years and the oxide mill going for over 10 years.

The cutoff used in the December 08 NI43-101 was equivalent to $8.45/ounce silver. Now that all metal prices are 50 to 100% higher than used in the study, an updated study would contain more resource tonnage and metals due to lower grades now being profitable.

Also based on Micon's estimate of potential metals not included in the MI&I numbers, and ECU's history of increasing their resource by 18 fold in 3.5 years, the total amount of profitable ore at the Velardena property is likely at least 150 to 200% greater than the above calculated numbers.