Aur Resources Announces Development Decision for the Duck Pond Copper-Zinc Deposit In Newfoundland.

TORONTO -- Aur Resources Inc. (TSX:AUR)("Aur") announces that it will commence development of its Duck Pond copper-zinc deposit located in central Newfoundland on a fast-track basis with production expected to begin in late 2006. Site clearing, roadwork and geotechnical and engineering work are currently in progress.

The Duck Pond deposit has proven and probable reserves of 4.1 million tonnes at an average grade of 3.3% Cu, 5.7% Zn, 59 g/t Ag and 0.9 g/t Au. In addition to the reserves, there are 1.1 million tonnes of inferred resources at a grade of 3.0% Cu, 7.1% Zn, 71 g/t Ag and 0.8 g/t Au which are expected to be upgraded to reserves and mined, adding an additional two years to the minelife. Additional details on the reserves and resources are presented in Table 1.

The mine plan involves the underground mining of 3.7 million tonnes of ore from the Duck Pond deposit utilizing ramp access and the open pit mining of 0.4 million tonnes of ore from the Boundary deposit at a rate of 1,800 tonnes per day. A flotation mill will process the ore and produce copper and zinc concentrates for sale to smelters. Production is expected to average 41 million pounds of copper, 76 million pounds of zinc, 536,000 ounces of silver and 4,100 ounces of gold annually during the period 2007-2014, excluding mining of the inferred resources.

The capital investment to construct the mine is forecast at CDN$92 million, including $9 million of contingencies. In 2005, approximately CDN$57 million will be spent with the balance to be incurred in 2006. Aur intends to finance these development costs from its existing cash resources and through the expected financial support which the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has indicated is available for surface infrastructure. At a copper price of $0.95 per pound and a zinc price of $0.50 per pound, the Duck Pond project is expected to provide a return on invested capital which will meet or exceed Aur's minimum investment criteria of 15%.

Further details on this new mining project will be provided as final design engineering is completed during the first quarter of 2005.

Table 1: Duck Pond Property Mineral Reserves and Resources

Mineral Reserves

                    t(000's)    Cu (%)   Zn (%)   Ag (g/t)   Au (g/t)
                    -------------------------------------------------
Proven                1,190      3.37     5.27       53.0       0.75
Probable              2,888      3.26     5.85       61.9       0.90
                      -----
Total Reserves        4,078      3.29     5.68       59.3       0.86

Mineral Resources (including Reserves)

                    t(000's)    Cu (%)   Zn (%)   Ag (g/t)   Au (g/t)
                    -------------------------------------------------
Measured              1,029      4.05     6.40       62.3       0.86
Indicated             2,511      4.03     7.40       75.5       1.08
                      -----
Total Resources       3,540      4.03     7.11       71.7       1.01

Inferred              1,073      3.04     7.05       71.2       0.81

Notes:

"t(000's)" means thousands of tonnes; "g/t" means grams per tonne; "Cu" means copper; "Zn" means zinc; "Ag" means silver; "Au" means gold.

The Duck Pond reserve and resource estimates have been prepared and classified in accordance with the standards established under NI 43-101. The qualified persons responsible for direct supervision of the estimates are Petr Pelz, P.Geo., Senior Mine Geologist, Duck Pond Project, as to the resource block model, resource classification and estimate and Denis Fleury, Eng., Chief Engineer, Louvicourt Mine as to the reserve estimate. The proven and probable reserves represent those parts of the measured and indicated resources, respectively, that are economically viable after allowing for internal and external dilution and for extraction losses.

The reserve calculations incorporate a copper price of $0.95/lb., a zinc price of $0.50/lb., a silver price of $5.00/oz., a gold price of $275/oz., an exchange rate of $1.00=CDN$1.47 and net smelter return cut-offs of, approximately, CDN$42 per tonne for the underground reserves and CDN$30 per tonne for the open pit reserves.

The resources are stated at a 2.5% copper equivalent ("CuEq") cut-off grade for the underground reserves and a 1.83% CuEq cut-off grade for the open pit reserves. The CuEq grades applied to by-product metals are, approximately, 0.35% CuEq for 1% Zn, 0.003% CuEq for 1 g/t Ag and 0.09% CuEq for 1 g/t Au. The resource classification is based on the proximity of drill hole composite samples to block centres as follows:- measured resources, up to 10 m spacing, indicated resources between 10 m and 30 m spacing and inferred resources, more than 30 m spacing.

Resources that do not qualify as reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

The reserve and resource estimates are as at December 31, 2003.

Aur Resources Inc. (TSX:AUR)