Bill Haldane, a senior trading analyst in the exchange’s market surveillance department, said the investigation followed complaints about movements in the Aur share price prior to Nov 8, when the results were released.
Aur and partner Societe Miniere Louvem are exploring a massive sulphide deposit estimated to contain at least 20 million tons of grade 3.5% copper, 2% zinc and 0.04 oz gold per ton.
But a company spokesman said a $1.12 increase in Aur’s share price to $13.75 from $12.63 was due purely to speculation on results that were unknown to Aur insiders until two days before they were released.
A rumor that Aur had intersected a 300-ft intersection averaging 20% copper proved to be greatly exaggerated when assays from eight drill holes actually included 334.8 ft of grade 3.59% copper, 0.15% zinc, 0.31 oz silver and 0.01 oz gold.
“In this business you can’t stop people from trading on rumor,” said Aur Secretary Peter McCarter, who attributed the rumor to Val d’Or bar talk. “We released the results on a consistent basis the same way we did in the past,” he said.
According to Haldane, it will be at least two weeks before The Toronto Stock Exchange decides whether to proceed any further with the preliminary investigation into the trading pattern of Aur shares.
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