By year end a lot of focus will be on Silver Valley not Mexico IMO:
SNS Silver to excavate, fix up Hooper tunnel
2007-04-23 10:23 ET - News Release
Mr. David Greenway reports
SNS SILVER CORP. (SNS-TSX-V) STARTS REHABILITATION OF THE HOOPER TUNNEL
SNS Silver Corp. has signed a contract for Atlas-Faucet Contracting (AFC) to begin rehabilitation of the Hooper tunnel. AFC provides a variety of services, including site evaluation, feasibility studies, troubleshooting and consultation prior to the undertaking of exploration, mine development and rehab, and underground drilling work. AFC projects include all types of underground mine development, rehabilitation and specialized civil construction. AFC crews are experienced and have the required licences to work in Idaho. AFC operates under a permit from the Mine Safety and Health Administration and also possesses a permit to handle explosives from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Over the last two weeks, material has been staged at the mouth of the Hooper tunnel on the sight of the Crescent silver mine, and the excavation and rehab of the Hooper tunnel has begun. The hoist room is approximately one mile into the mountain; the company expects the rehabilitation to be completed within three to six months. It is impossible to tell accurately, although there was a safety test done back in the 1990s by a mine rescue team in Kellogg where there was only one single partial slough. The team, during its safety training, was able to get by and reach the hoist room. Today as the company begins, the Hooper tunnel has a tight slough at about 100 feet in, and once AFC gets through the slough, the company will have a better idea of how long it will take AFC to reach the hoist room. The company will be providing continuing updates of the process.
Diamond-drill sites will be constructed at appropriate locations as the crew moves forward through the tunnel. These will be used for drilling veins above and below the Hooper level. Timing for drilling below the Hooper tunnel is dependent on how rapidly the Hooper tunnel can be rehabilitated. Currently, Brian White, staff geologist for SNS, has been working on an underground drill program which will consist of over 100,000 feet of drilling.
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