this was a surprise to me. my guess at this point is that the board of directors had finally grown impatient with the delays at pirquitas. rq is a geologist, and did an outstanding job of growing the company's in-ground silver resource. but in the current market environment, ounces in the ground are not being rewarded. the market wants to see production, which means results at pirquitas. so i think the next president will be a mining company executive with experience in production. this is all specualtion of course, but if they don't get pirquitas straightened out soon, the general manager down there may be the next to go.