Aur resumes drilling at Louvicourt project

Surface drilling has resumed at the massive sulphide project of Aur Resources (TSE) and Societe Miniere Louvem (TSE) after a short Christmas break, says Aur Vice- President Howard Stockford.

Operator Aur is drilling four holes to test at a depth of 3,000 ft. the down-plunge extension of a deposit containing potential reserves of 36 million tons grading 3.11% copper, 1.34% zinc, 0.55 oz. silver per ton and 0.025 oz. gold.

But Stockford said the next results from the Louvicourt Twp. property near Val d’Or, Que., probably won’t be available until the final week of this month.

“We had trouble getting the previous drill holes to go where we wanted them so we have installed navi drills on the end of the rods to push in the right direction,” he said.

While Aur and Louvem are involved in a dispute over who can own and operate the project, Vancouver resource giants Teck (TSE) and Cominco (TSE) recently moved to complete their previously announced investment in Aur.

After purchasing 1.25 million flow-through common shares of Aur for an aggregate price of $13.4 million, Teck and Cominco now hold 4.3 million Aur shares, representing a 21% interest. Noranda (TSE), with a right to take control, has a 14% stake in Louvem.

Under an agreement signed last July, the Vancouver companies are backing Aur management for a minimum of three years but Cominco and Teck also have the right of first refusal on any shares sold by Aur’s major shareholders.

Also, Aur recently filed a normal course issuer bid to enable it to acquire, through open market purchases on the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges, up to 1.6 million common shares or 10% of the public float. The proposed share purchases can be made at any time this year from Jan. 2, to Dec. 31.

At a recent trading price of $13.50 on the Toronto exchange, Stockford claims that Aur shares are being undervalued by the market. “People tend to think of us as a 1-project company,” said Stockford.

Of 40 exploration projects, Aur is active on five and it expects to produce about 25,000 oz. gold this year from the Kierens mine and adjacent Norlartic project near Val d’Or.

Louvem Chairman Pierre Gauthier has also complained that at $9 on the Toronto exchange, his company’s shares are also undervalued. Louvem is controlled by St. Genevieve Resources (TSE) of Montreal.