Exhibit 99.1
FEBRUARY 1, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CADENCE RESOURCES AND AURORA ENERGY SIGN DEFINITIVE MERGER AGREEMENT;

COMPANIES  ANNOUNCE  ANTICIPATED NEW EQUITY FINANCING  TOTALING $22.3 MILLION IN
AGGREGATE.

WALLA WALLA,  WASHINGTON.  Cadence Resources Corporation (OTCBB:CDNR) and Aurora
Energy Ltd. of Traverse City,  Michigan  announced  today that the two companies
have signed a definitive  merger agreement  providing for the acquisition of all
of the outstanding shares and options of Aurora by Cadence.  Aurora Energy holds
an  interest  in over  400,000  acres of oil and gas leases in  Michigan,  Ohio,
Kentucky  and Indiana,  both  developed  and  undeveloped,  which are  targeting
unconventional shale gas development.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cadence will issue 28,147,966 common shares in
exchange for an aggregate of 14,073,983 Aurora common shares which are currently
outstanding (including preferred stock convertible into common shares), and will
reserve  5,997,482  shares for issuance  upon the exercise of 2,998,714  options
which are currently outstanding in Aurora. Aurora expects to receive $12,550,000
of new  financing  after the  signing  of this  agreement  consisting  of a unit
offering  at $2.50 with each unit  comprising  one common  share and one warrant
exercisable at $3.50.  Assuming this financing occurs as expected,  Cadence will
issue an additional 10,040,000 shares and warrants to purchase 3,800,000 for the
units issued by Aurora in this latest private placement.

The final closing of the acquisition  will occur upon the approval of the Aurora
shareholders,  as well as the effectiveness of a registration  statement on Form
S-4 to be filed by Cadence.

Aurora Energy was founded by its  President,  William  Deneau and its two senior
Vice Presidents,  Thomas Tucker and John Miller.  Aurora has acquired  extensive
leasehold  positions  in two of the most  prominent  shale  gas  trends in North
America - the Antrim shale trend in Northern Michigan,  and the New Albany shale
trend in Southern  Indiana.  Aurora holds an interest in 413,505 leasehold acres
in these  areas,  with a  significant  percentage  of this acreage in the Antrim
shale trend.

The Antrim trend is a shallow shale formation which extends in a thirty to forty
mile wide belt across the northern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan, from
near Grand  Traverse  Bay on Lake  Michigan in the west to Alpena  County on the
shores of Lake Huron in the east.  Over the past twenty  years,  more than 8,000
natural gas wells have been drilled by various  operators,  with over 95% of the
wells being  successfully  completed.  These Antrim wells  typically  contain an
average of 0.550 BCF of total gas  reserves per well,  with  initial  production
rates in the 50-150 MCF/day range.  The wells generally  exhibit very long, slow
decline curves which results in stable natural gas production over a long period
of time.

In June of 2004,  Aurora signed a joint venture  agreement with Samson Resources
of Tulsa,  OK for the  development  of 69,000 Antrim  leasehold  acres in Alpena
County,  MI. Under the terms of the deal,  Aurora  participates as a 20% working
interest  partner in all the wells drilled by the joint  venture,  and since its
inception, the joint venture has drilled and completed approximately 54 wells.

In addition to the Samson agreement, Aurora has joint ventures on other portions
of its Antrim acreage with O.I.L., a Michigan based  independent,  and Bluegrass
Energy of Oklahoma. In September of 2004, Aurora finalized an agreement with TCW
Asset Management whereby TCW will provide up to $30,000,000 in a credit facility
for the development of Aurora's Antrim acreage,  subject to certain  conditions.
During 2004, Aurora and its partners completed another 47 wells outside the area
of the Samson Joint Venture.




In Southern  Indiana's New Albany shale trend,  Aurora recently completed a cash
sale of its leases on over 90,000 acres to El Paso Production Company (NYSE-EP).
As part of this  agreement,  Aurora  retains a 5% working  interest in all wells
drilled on this acreage,  with this  interest  being fully carried by El Paso on
the first fifty wells.  El Paso has drilled six wells on the property  since the
inception of its option in 2003,  including four wells using horizontal drilling
technology.  Outside the area of the El Paso agreement, Aurora continues to hold
approximately 180,000 acres of leases in the New Albany shale gas trend in which
it has varying working interests, ranging from 5% to 100%.

After the  final  closing,  the  combined  companies  will be  headquartered  in
Traverse  City,  Michigan and William  Deneau will assume the role of President,
John Miller will become Vice President of Exploration  and Lori King will become
the Chief  Financial  Officer.  The new Board of Directors  will consist of four
members of the current Aurora Board,  two members of the current  Cadence Board,
and one outside director representative from the new investor group.

Following the signing of this  definitive  agreement,  Cadence  expects to close
approximately  $9,762,500 of new equity financing,  through the sale of units at
$1.25,  each unit  consisting of common  shares and warrants to purchase  common
shares,  with each warrant  exercisable  for three years at a price of $1.75.  A
total of 7,810,000 common shares and 14,050,000  warrants will be issued in this
placement.  These  issuances will be included in a registration  statement to be
filed by Cadence.

With a portion of the proceeds  from this  placement,  Cadence will  immediately
repay $5,000,000 of outstanding  promissory  notes,  plus any accrued  interest,
under a repayment agreement with the existing note investors. Under the terms of
this agreement,  the investors have agreed to waive the prepayment  penalties in
exchange for Cadence reducing the exercise price of their warrants to $1.25.

Upon the completion of all the transactions  described above,  Cadence Resources
will have 58,841,293 primary common shares issued and outstanding.  Assuming the
exercise  of all  outstanding  warrants  and  options,  which  would bring in an
additional $40,693,061, the fully diluted number of shares would be 82,658,775.

Cadence Resources Corporation currently produces natural gas from 11 wells in De
Soto Parish,  Louisiana,  and oil from six wells in Wilbarger County,  Texas and
two wells in Eddy  County,  New Mexico.  Cadence also holds over 26,000 acres of
prospective oil and gas leases in the Anadarko Basin in Western Kansas.

Certain  information  contained in this news release  contains  "forward-looking
statements"  within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended,  and Section 21E of the  Securities  Exchange Act of 1934,  as amended,
that are  intended  to be covered by the safe harbor  created by such  sections.
However, such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and
other factors,  which could cause actual results to differ  materially from such
forward-looking  statements.  For a discussion of such risks,  uncertainties and
other factors,  please see "Risk Factors" in our Registration  Statement on Form
SB-2.  The Company  disclaims any intent or  obligation  to update  publicly any
forward-looking  statements  set  forth  herein,  whether  as a  result  of  new
information,  future  events  or  otherwise,  except  as may be  required  under
applicable securities laws.

For further  information,  please contact Howard Crosby of Cadence  Resources at
(509) 526-3491,  John Ryan of Cadence  Resources at (843)  842-4048,  or William
Deneau of Aurora Energy at (231) 941-0073.