Silver Standard Updates Pirquitas Mill Shutdown  

VANCOUVER, BC - Silver Standard Resources Inc. reported that the Pirquitas mill was shut down due to a gearbox failure in September. The process plant, excluding the ball mill, will resume operations at reduced levels processing high grade fines from the process water pond. Mine operations are unaffected and will continue to stockpile material at design rates.

"We took added measures to monitor the gearbox and were enjoying average daily production rates of 28,000 ounces of silver and 85% recovery rates in September," said John Smith, President and CEO. "We are refurbishing the gearbox now and in November will take delivery of a new gearbox providing full redundancy, allowing us to continually produce between 8 to 10 million ounces of silver annually."

The ball mill re-start is scheduled for mid-October and is expected to achieve design rates through year-end. As a result, 2011 silver production guidance is revised to 7.3 to 7.6 million ounces. Cost guidance will be re-examined and reported with the third quarter results.