Excerpt from Stockwatch Gold yesterday Matti Talikka's Aurion Resources Ltd. (AU) rose three cents to 59 cents on 634,000 shares on word it has drilled a 2.45-metre interval grading 26.45 grams of gold per tonne, aided by a 0.5-metre bonanza stretch that averaged 108.5 grams per tonne. The hit is from one of 12 new holes drilled in the Sore area on a joint-venture project shared with B2Gold Corp. (BTO: $3.38) in Finland. This is a new discovery, as there previously had not been any drilling within one kilometre of the strike. There were also some long lower-grade hits, including a 40.7-metre near-surface encounter that graded 1.05 grams per tonne.
And so, Mr. Talikka applauded "a new discovery, greenfield and on a blind target" as further highlighting the prospectivity of the 29,000-hectare joint venture, and the "quality of B2Gold's exploration team." (It is always helpful to cheer on your majority partner -- although in this case B2Gold may not be a coventurer for long. A week ago, B2Gold told Mr. Talikka and his crew that it had received an offer to acquire its 70-per-cent interest in the project from Rupert Resources Ltd. (RUP: $3.53), which was offering 28.64 million Rupert shares in return.)
Aurion has a right of first refusal to match the offer, and Mr. Talikka is mulling the matter. (He has until early May to make an offer "on terms no less favourable than those offered by Rupert.") It is unclear if today's new discovery will materially alter the mulling, but it had just a modest impact on Aurion's share price.