i still haven't heard anything from the company itself, but this short article by michael craze says the mining secretariat of argentina indicated that pirquitas will begin production:

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Silver Standard Resources Inc. will begin production this year at its Pirquitas mine in Argentina, a regulatory agency said.

Silver Standard spent more than 800 million pesos ($231 million) to restart the mine in northwest Argentina, the Mining Secretariat said today in an e-mailed statement. The Vancouver- based company took over the site 20 years after it was abandoned.

Output from the silver mine, set to resume “in the first months” of 2009, also will include lead and zinc, the secretariat said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...