Post merger buying at African Aura

A round-up of the biggest director deals today so far.

African Aura Mining Inc's main shareholder and director Guy Pas has increased his stake to 9.38%. He bought 560,250 shares at 61.5p a share on 20 October.

African Aura Mining was formed when AIM and TSX Venture Exchange-quoted Mano River Resources merged with TSX Venture Exchange-quoted African Aura Resources earlier this month. Geneva-based Pas was a co-founder of Mano River as well as AIM-quoted west African oil and gas company Afren.

African Aura Mining's chief executive Luis de Silva bought 8,134 shares at 61p each on the same day as Pas. Non-executive director Stephen Poulton acquired 8,200 shares at 60p each, taking his stake to 2.17%. Poulton joined the board after the merger but he had been a director of Mano River up until 2005 and he was also involved in founding African Aura Resources.

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The company's focus is iron ore and gold exploration in sub-Saharan Africa. The group also has diamond and uranium interests.

African Aura Mining has commenced exploration drilling at the New Liberty gold deposit in western Liberia. The programme is designed to enable the company to start an updated bankable feasibility study that should be completed before the end of 2010. The target is to show that the project could produce 100,000 ounces of gold each year.

There is a 1.4m ounce measured and indicated resource at New Liberty. The drilling programme will end this year and final results will be available in the first quarter of 2010.

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