ALTIUS ANNOUNCES NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID
St. John�s - Altius Minerals Corporation (�Altius�) announces that it will purchase at market price up to 1,440,744 common shares, being approximately 5% of its outstanding shares of 28,814,895 as of March 21, 2011, by way of a normal course issuer bid through the facilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The bid is subject to regulatory approval. The bid will commence April 1, 2011 and will end no later than March 31, 2012. Any shares purchased during the normal course issuer bid will be cancelled and returned to treasury.
The TSX rules permit Altius to purchase daily, through TSX facilities, a maximum of approximately 9,233 common shares under the Company�s repurchase program. During the previous 12 months, Altius did not purchase any shares through a normal course issuer bid. The reason for the bid is that, in the opinion of the board of directors, the value of Altius, based on anticipated cash flows and underlying asset values, is from time to time, greater than the then aggregate market price of the common shares and accordingly, the acquisition of common shares under the bid represents an appropriate use of funds.
About Altius
Altius is focused on the mining and resources sector through prospect generation and the creation and acquisition of royalties and investments. The Corporation has a strong financial position with approximately $200 million in cash and mature liquid investments. It has also built a portfolio of directly and indirectly held junior resource investments, including 32.3 million shares of Alderon Resource Corp. (ADV:TSX).
Altius owns an effective 0.3% net smelter return royalty in the producing Voisey�s Bay nickel-copper-cobalt mine, a 2% gross sales royalty in the Central Mineral Belt uranium project of Paladin Energy Limited, a 3% gross sales royalty in the Kami iron ore project of Alderon and several earlier stage resource project royalties. Its growing project generation pipeline consists of a diversified portfolio of exploration projects, many of which it have attracted joint venture funding partners.
Altius is a member of the TSX SmallCap index and currently has 28,814,895 shares outstanding.
For further information please contact Chad Wells at 1.877.576.2209.