despite the sharp correction in the share price, let me dispel any doubts about any issues silver standard may be having. the company is simply caught up in a broad market decline affecting the entire mining sector; this is not company-specific.

a couple of days ago, robert quartermain gave a presentation at the denver gold show and said everything is on schedule at pirquitas. the ball mill had arrived on site the day before, the generators are on site, the gas pipeline has been pressure tested, and so on.

in fact they are getting better results from their drilling at pirquitas than expected. they have hit 2% zinc in the side of the pit wall, and 1% zinc and 0.8% tin outside the pit, and they expect the 14.5 year mine life will be extended again. this is something i had speculated about earlier, but it's nice to hear it coming from the company. the zinc circuit may be expanded due to the good grades, and those concentrates may be sold to europe or asia. the silver and tin will be sold to asia.

they continue to drill on their other projects, and should have an updated resource at diablillos by early next year, moving inferred resources to m+i. they are hoping for an updated resource at snowfield by the end of the year, as assays are backed up at the lab. although it is a gold project they are creating value at snowfield, as the mineralization extends to the surface, and they have found grades as high as 2-3 grams/ton. the drilling was done along strike between their mineralized zone and seabridge.

the company has no cash problem, and will not be affected by the credit crunch due to its strong balance sheet. the exploration budget was around $25 million this year, and should be a similar amount next year. this is how the company creates value, as they found their gold resource at snowfield at $1-2/oz and the silver at pitarrilla at 10 cents/oz or even less.