Aurizon Mines 40F 2009 Annual report

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549

FORM 40-F

[ ]

REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

[X]

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13(a) OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2009
Commission File Number 001-31893

AURIZON MINES LTD.

(Exact Name of the Registrant as Specified in its Charter)


Not applicable	British Columbia, Canada	Not Applicable
(Translation of Registrant’s name into English (if applicable))	(Province of other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(I.R.S. employer Identification Number (if applicable))

1040

(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number (if applicable))

Suite 3120, Park Place, 666 Burrard Street,
Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 2X8
Telephone: (604) 687-6600

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

CT Corporation System
111 Eighth Avenue, 13th Floor
New York, New York 10011
Telephone: (212) 590-9331

Name, address (including zip code) and telephone number
(including area code) of agent for service in the United States

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Name of Each

Title of Each Class

Exchange on Which Registered

Common Stock

NYSE Amex

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

NONE

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

NONE

For annual reports, indicate by check mark the information filed with this Form:

[ X ] Annual information form

[ X ] Audited annual financial statements

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

As at December 31, 2009,159,008,607Common Shares without par value were issued and outstanding.

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Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant by filing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). If “Yes” is marked, indicate the filing number assigned to the Registrant in connection with such Rule.

[ ] Yes: [ X ] No

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

[ X ]Yes

[ ] No

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit and post such files).

[ ] Yes

[ ] No N/A

DISCLOSURE CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Aurizon Mines Ltd. (the “Company”) has carried out an evaluation, under the supervision of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC”) rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regard ing required disclosures. Based on this evaluation, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of the end of the fiscal year covered by this Form 40-F, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

MANAGEMENT’S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a–15(f) and 15d–15(f) under the Exchange Act and for assessing the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Management, including the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, has used the criteria established in “Internal Control – Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. The assessment included an evaluation of the design of the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting and testing of the operational effectiveness of those controls. Based on this assessment, management has concluded that as at December 31, 2009, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective.

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The effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as at December 31, 2009 has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which is included with the Company’s audited financial statements, which is an exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 40-F.

CHANGES IN INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

During the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 40-F, an evaluation conducted pursuant to Rule 13a–15(d) under the Exchange Act identified no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

The Company’s management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that its disclosure controls and procedures or internal controls and procedures will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the control. The desi gn of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

CODE OF ETHICS

The Company has adopted a Code of Ethics for Financial Reporting Officers that applies to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. The Company has also adopted a Code of Business Ethics that applies to all directors, officers and employees of the Company. Both the Company’s Code of Ethics for Financial Reporting Officers and its Code of Business Ethics are available on its website, www.aurizon.com.

AUDIT COMMITTEE

The Company’s Board of Directors has a separately-designated standing Audit Committee for the purpose of overseeing the accounting and financial reporting processes of the Company and audits of the Company’s annual financial statements. The following individuals comprise the entire membership of the Company’s Audit Committee: Andre Falzon, Richard Faucher and Brian S. Moorhouse.

AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT

The Company’s Board of Directors has determined that it has at least one audit committee financial expert (as such term is defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC) serving on its Audit Committee. Andre Falzon has been determined to be such audit committee financial expert and is independent (as such term is defined by the corporate governance standards of the NYSE Amex applicable to the Company).

The SEC has indicated that the designation of Andre Falzon as an audit committee financial expert does not make him an “expert” for any purpose, impose on him any duties, obligations or liability that are greater than the duties, obligations or liability imposed on him as a member of the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors in the absence of such designation or identification, or affect the duties, obligations or liability of any other member of the Audit Committee or Board of Directors.

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PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

The following table sets forth the Company’s fees paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PWC”), Chartered Accountants, of Vancouver, British Columbia, its independent auditors for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008 for professional services, based on fees billed during the calendar year in each category:


	Fiscal Year Ended
	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2008
Audit Fees
Financial statements	$280,000	$325,000
Quarterly reviews	20,000	10,100

Total audit fees:	300,000	335,100

Tax Fees(1)	47,750	15,000

Audit-Related Fees
Prospectus, IFRS, SEC comment letters and consulting	47,500	21,450

Total audit-related fees:	395,250	371,550

All Other Fees	-	-

Total fees	395,250	371,550

Note:

(1)

The Company uses PWC for tax compliance, advice, and return preparation. The Company chooses to use PWC for these services due to their extensive knowledge of the Company’s activities and familiarity with its business and the associated cost savings resulting from that knowledge base.

AUDIT COMMITTEE PRE-APPROVAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

The Company’s Audit Committee has adopted a pre-approval policy with respect to audit services, audit-related services and permitted non-audit services. Pursuant to the Audit Committee Charter, the Audit Committee shall review and pre-approve all audit and audit-related services. In addition, the Audit Committee shall review and pre-approve all permitted non-audit services provided by the Company’s auditors. Prior to the granting of any pre-approval, the Audit Committee must be satisfied that the performance of the services in question will not compromise the independence of the auditors.

During the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008, none of the services described above under “Principal Accountant Fees and Services” under the captions “Audit-Related Fees”, “Tax Fees”, and “All Other Fees” were approved after the fact by the Audit Committee pursuant to paragraph (c)(7)(i)(C) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

The Company does not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

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TABULAR DISCLOSURE OF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

The following table lists as of December 31, 2009 information with respect to the Company’s known contractual obligations.


Contractual Obligations	Total	Less than 1 Year	1 – 3 Years	3 – 5 Years	More than 5 years
	($000)	($000)	($000)	($000)	($000)
Capital leases	66	66	-	-	-
Reimbursable government assistance	1,373	600	773	-	-
Environmental and reclamation	30,509	284	-	-	30,225
Mineral properties commitments	2,150	2,150	-	-	-
Hydro Quebec- distribution line	655	328	327	-	-
Head office lease	135	115	20	-	-

Total:	34,888	3,543	1,120	-	30,225

For additional information related to the Company’s obligations and commitments see note 9(c) in the Company’s audited financial statements, which are an exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 40-F.

RESOURCE AND RESERVE ESTIMATES

The Company’s Annual Information Form, which is attached hereto as Exhibit 1, has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada as of December 31, 2009, which differ in certain material respects from the disclosure requirements of United States securities laws. The terms “mineral reserve”, “proven mineral reserve” and “probable mineral reserve” are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the “CIM”) - CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended. These definitions differ from the definitions in the disclosure requirements promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commi ssion (the “Commission”).

In addition, the terms “mineral resource”, “measured mineral resource”, “indicated mineral resource” and “inferred mineral resource” are defined in and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101. However, these terms are not defined terms under the standards of the Commission and are not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements of United States companies filed with the Commission. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. “Inferred mineral resources” have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inf erred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable.

Accordingly, information contained in this annual report on Form 40-F, the documents attached hereto and the documents incorporated by reference herein containing descriptions of our mineral deposits may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.

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UNDERTAKING AND CONSENT TO SERVICE OF PROCESS

Undertaking

The Registrant undertakes to make available, in person or by telephone, representatives to respond to inquiries made by the SEC staff, and to furnish promptly, when requested to do so by the SEC staff, information relating to: the securities registered pursuant to Form 40-F; the securities in relation to which the obligation to file an annual report on Form 40-F arises; or transactions in said securities.

Consent to Service of Process

The Company filed an Appointment of Agent for Service of Process and Undertaking on Form F-X signed by the Company and its agent for service of process on March 29, 2006 with respect to the class of securities in relation to which the obligation to file this annual report arises.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Exchange Act, the registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 40-F and has duly caused this annual report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereto duly authorized.

AURIZON MINES LTD.

By:

Date: March 31, 2010

/s/ Ian S. Walton

Ian S. Walton,

Executive Vice President and

Chief Financial Officer

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Exhibit Index

Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2010.

Audited Annual Financial Statements for the Company’s Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2009, incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 6-K filed on March 25, 2010 with the SEC.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2009, incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 6-K filed on March 25, 2010 with the SEC.