IMO, each of EVG's projects demand the spotlight as a potential...

IMO, each of EVG's projects demand the spotlight as a potential company-maker: Las Lagunas in the Dominican Republic, Trujillo in Northern Peru, and now the 65% interest in the Pinglio and Papercorp mines at Azuay in Ecuador.

Until the latest quarterly report, I tended to overlook Azuay as being a low-priority distraction, but the much-upgraded assessment of the Azuay target has IMO introduced an excitement factor:

"...mining target of approximately 4.0 million tonnes at grades of 10g/t to 12g/t which could produce over 1 million ounces of gold. The estimation of tonnes is based on very conservative volume estimation. It will be possible to rapidly expand the volume of the mineralized targets with well placed surface and underground drill holes."

Now, grades of 10g/t to 12g/t sound interesting to me, given that Australian miners are forced to try to make money underground at grades as low as about 4g/t.

When I saw the EVG share price dip today, I wondered how EVG was going to provide enough newsflow to maintain investor interest for about a year until the Las Lagunas mill is built and fires up. However, perhaps drill hits at Azuay could fill in the silences. There are reported to be about 15km of underground tunnels at Azuay, and EVG is to begin underground investigative drilling as soon as a contractor can be engaged. Surface drilling will follow.

Drill hits or not, I myself have no great interest in EVG as a short-term exploration play. I'm more attracted by the production income potential. Of course, do your own research, because when the moon is full and my temples are white and throbbing painfully, I distract myself by trying to lick my own ear, and I tend to snap repeatedly at the air if startled.