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Altius Sells Nuiklavik Property to Rare Element Resources

^{Published on 2010-01-08 07:00:22 - Market Wire}
 

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR--(Marketwire - Jan. 8, 2010) - Altius (TSX:ALS) announces the sale of its Nuiklavik rare-earth-element (REE) property in northern Labrador, Canada to Rare Element Resources Ltd., which has agreed to issue 200,000 common shares of the company in staged payments. Altius will retain a 2% gross overriding royalty on the property, half of which may be purchased by Rare Earth Element Resources Ltd. for C$2.5 million at any time.

Prospect generation work by Altius since 2006 resulted in the staking and subsequent exploration of a district-scale cluster of uranium and REE occurrences that are hosted by both felsic intrusive and volcanic rocks. These units comprise a REE-enriched volcanic/intrusive complex that underlies the property and measures 15 kilometres in diameter.

Grab samples of the felsic dikes and other felsic intrusive rocks yielded maximum assay values of 1.4% zirconium oxide, 1.27% yttrium oxide, 1.15% niobium oxide, and 1.1% total rare-earth oxides. Heavy REE represents up to 68% of the total rare-earth-oxide component in some samples.

Rare Earth Element Resources Ltd. (RES:TSXV, [ www.rareelementresources.com ]) is a publicly traded company having 100% interest in the Bear Lodge property, which contains one of the largest disseminated rare-earth deposits in North America (US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1049D) as well as extensive gold occurrences.

Lawrence Winter, Ph.D., P.Geo., Vice-President of Exploration for Altius, is the qualified person responsible for the technical data presented in this release.

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 $132 million in cash and liquid investments and no debt. Altius owns an effective 0.3% net smelter return in the producing Voisey's Bay nickel-copper-cobalt mine located in Labrador, Canada and has numerous active mineral exploration agreements principally in eastern Canada targeting a variety of mineral commodities. In addition, the Corporation holds a 9.4% investment stake in International Royalty Corporation. Altius is a member of the TSX SmallCap index and currently has 28,432,895 shares outstanding.