Pirquitas Mine

Silver Standard Resources Inc. (SSRI 18.40 [+0.02]) provides the following updates on the Pirquitas Mine and principal development projects and reports on headline financial results from the company’s fourth quarter of 2009. Effective January 1, 2009, the company adopted the U.S. dollar as its reporting currency.

Pirquitas Mine

Pirquitas produced 1.1 million ounces during the year. Since December 1, 2009, the date of achievement of commercial production, the mine produced to year-end 545,600 ounces of silver at a cash production cost of $8.99 per silver ounce(1). Total cash costs, including transportation, treatment, refining, export taxes and royalties, were $16.57 per silver ounce(1). During the month, the company sold 460,100 ounces of silver at a realized price of $17.49 per ounce(1) and, after deducting treatment and refining charges, recorded revenues of $5.4 million.

The plant has a crushing capacity of 6,000 tonnes per day. This feeds a pre-concentration plant that is designed to feed the mill at a rate of 3,200 tonnes per day. The mill’s feasibility design capacity was exceeded in both November and December.

The mill is processing transitional ore and is anticipated to process sulphide ore at full capacity during the second quarter of 2010. The tin circuit is commissioned and will be operated when suitable material is available in Q2 2010. Production in 2010 is planned to be seven million ounces of silver at an average cash production cost of $9.00 per ounce of silver net of by-product credits.