Aur makes new discovery at La Verde property

Toronto-based copper miner Aur Resources (TSX: AUR) has intersected "significant copper mineralization" and made a new discovery at its La Verde copper property in west-central Mexico, the company announced. Drilling to date has tested two areas of the property where the previous owners had outlined near-surface resources of 72.6Mt at an average grade of 0.7% copper and intersected the new mineralization in a previously untested area of the property, Aur said. The additional mineralization was discovered as part of an induced polarization (IP) geophysical survey, which outlined an anomaly approximately 4km long and from 750-1,500m wide surrounding the area of known mineralization. The first hole drilled to begin evaluation of this anomaly returned 427m grading 0.49% copper. "The extent of this newly discovered copper mineralization is unknown at this time. However, based upon the size of the IP anomaly and the extent of the copper mineralization known on the property at this time, the potential exists for a large-tonnage copper deposit on the La Verde property," Aur said. The company's ongoing 2005 drilling program there has now been doubled to 15,000m in 40 holes at a cost of Cdn$2.3mn (US$1.8mn) to accelerate the evaluation of the new discovery. Aur has the right to earn a 100% interest in the La Verde property by making cash payments totaling Cdn$6.8mn, of which Cdn$800,000 is payable by October 2008, and by paying a 0.5% net smelter return royalty to the vendor.