Gold Exploration in West Africa

[FL]

Columbia River (CRVV) is a West African gold exploration property company in its own right, even though it's controlled by African Gold (AGG.TO) with a 68.84% interest. Columbia River Resources, Inc., a Nevada corporation, is traded (albeit thinly and with a huge spread) on the Pink Sheets as CRVV.

It owns the Mankranho gold concession northwest of Kumasi in Ghana as its only asset. AGG, which recently merged with a shell company to get listed, got its CRVV shares less than a year ago for US$0.02/share. Recently CRVV traded at over US$0.20, and last traded at US$0.14, which is also the current bid price (the ask is US$0.19). The 68.84% of CRVV is AGG's main asset.

I think Trading Fool should list CRVV at the top, somehow, though it seems to have neither its own webpage nor a (free) Stockcharts chart. You can see the CRVV chart at http://www.pinksheets.com or at http://www.bigcharts.com .

I can't figure out why this company still exists separately from AGG. Trading Fool posted a recent notice that CRVV would double its authorized common shares to 100 million. Also, to quote:

"[T]he "2004 Stock Option Plan") for the
purpose of encouraging eligible
directors, officers, employees
and consultants of the Company to
acquire shares of common stock
of the Company, and thereby
increasing their proprietary
interest in the Company, encouraging
them to remain associated with
the Company, and furnishing them
with additional incentive to
advance the interests of the Company
in the conduct of their affairs.

A total of 5,000,000 shares of
common stock have been reserved
for issuance pursuant to stock
options that may from time to time
be awarded under the 2004 Stock
Option Plan."


This is an interesting set of employee incentives for a company that does not actually do anything other than hold a single property on behalf of the new African Gold (AGG.TO). What onerous toils will need to be rewarded with these 5 million CRVV options? (Separate from, and on top of, rewards to AGG's own toilers?)

And why authorize new shares of this inert entity, if a second layer of dilution is not planned?

FL