Ann: HIGH GRADE NICKEL CONFIRMED AT SAINTS, page-4

Welcome amigo. You are asking some questions which I can only answer with guesses. So my advice is keep posting and asking questions on Hot Copper about any stock you like, then make up your own mind from what you have learned. Now back to your questions. Firstly, we have to know where Auroch sits in the exploration graph (see the chart below from Brent Cook). My feeling is that AOU is in the pre-discovery stage. It has a few irons in the fire, and the latest one - exploring the nickel sulfide deposits in WA - may turn out to be a discovery that goes all the way to mining. But really, that is a long way away. A decision to mine only happens after a feasibility study which shows that its a commercial proposition. I'm guessing that we are not near that stage, but it could happen if the resource is proven up. Nevertheless, the chart below shows some of the best capital gains occur when a stock is actively exploring and making some discoveries (which is where AOU s at the moment). At these times, the market may go wild and prices over-shoot in anticipation. Later on there may be a pull-back in the price because the results may not be as good as expected, or shareholders just get bored while they are waiting for all the drilling to be completed (that's called the orphan period). I think AOU is just starting the specculation stage. The grades are excellent, but it will take wider intercepts in the drilling to set the horses racing. They are learning about the resource and modern geophysics could help them target the drilling in a much better way than in the old days. Because Auroch has only about 120 million shares on issue (from memory), any very good news should kick the shareprice upwards. The longterm strategy for any junior explorer should be to drill, drill, drill. If they are lucky, the mining will take care of itself (but that will be a few years down the track).