as we have already noted in this forum, the pirquitas project is well on its way to completion, and should become the company's first operating mine by the end of the year.

next up is san luis in peru. this is a joint venture with esperanza silver, and sso has the right to earn an 80% interest by bringing the project into production. the feasibility study should be done next quarter. although this is a smaller project, they have found bonanza grades of gold, and with exploratory drilling of high-grade veins, the next resource estimate should increase the resource significantly. because this is a smaller project, it will go faster than pirquitas, and the company is looking at completion by late 2009, or early 2010.

the pitarrilla project in mexico will be the third mine. it will be some time next year before a feasibility study is done, and then the board of directors will have to make a production decision. but given a silver price around $20, unless something has gone horribly wrong at pirquitas, pitarrilla will then go forward. the decision to build pirquitas was based on reserves computed at $5.35 silver, so i think the decision on pitarrilla will be only a formality. pitarrilla is a huge deposit, and a complicated project, so it could take up to two years to complete. if all goes well, pitarrilla will be complete in 2011.

barring any unforseen problems, in nine months the company will have one mine, in two years the company will have two mines, and in roughly 3 1/2 years, a third mine.