Welcome to the home of the Retail Owners of Aurelian. Glad you could join us! Sorry we turned down your offer, but quite frankly it stinks, and I think you know that.

I do hope you understand where we're coming from, and that you don't make the same egregious error our own directors did in equating "retail investor" with "turnip truck" or "corner grocery store."

You see, many of us are experienced, highly educated people who come from a wide range of professional backgrounds. There are doctors, lawyers, scientists, engineers, IT specialists, even M&A people and corporate directors in our ranks. Many of us are well travelled and speak a variety of languages, including that of our host nation, Ecuador.

As diverse a group as we are, we all share one thing in common: an intense dislike at having our intelligence insulted. As fellow professionals, I'm sure you can identify with that emotion.

Apparently there are more of us than was previously claimed. Perhaps this is because as intelligent professionals, we're able to discern the value in owning one the best gold discoveries in recent memory, and aren't in as great a hurry to part with it as our current directors appear to be.

This is only logical, since as professionals we're accustomed to taking the long view. Some of us studied 10 years or more to obtain our degrees, and consider it time and money well spent. Thus, a few more years to prove up this discovery and bring it into production means little to us. We are patient people, and like Jesse Livermore, we are prepared to wait.

At any rate, I'm sure you'll agree our presence has been felt. We haven't disappeared as some would have you believe, on the contrary, our numbers are growing. We are adding to already established networks, and creating new ones as we speak. Some of these efforts involve contact at the highest levels, and represent a significant variable in the formulas presently being applied. I know this sounds vague, but to give specifics at this stage of the game would amount to showing our hand, which we prefer not to do, as I'm sure you can appreciate.

At any rate, welcome to the New Ground of Corporate M&A, where the Retail Investor will henceforth play an increasingly significant role.

Isn't the internet a wonderful invention? We think so, but then we have a definite bias, since we helped create it.

As they say in Beijing, let the games begin!

ebear