Altius Minerals Corporation (TSX:ALS) Reports Third Quarter Net Loss of $3,627,000

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR--(Marketwire - March 18, 2013) - Altius Minerals Corporation ("Altius") (TSX:ALS) reports a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $3,627,000 or ($0.13) per share for the three months ended January 31, 2013 compared to net earnings of $2,461,000 for the same period last year. The current year was affected primarily by the losses in the share of associates and lower revenue in the current period. The prior year's results included one-time revenue of $3,999,000 from the receipt of share payments from the vending of a mineral property.

A summary of the financial results is included in the following table.

	Three months ended			Nine Months Ended
	January 31,			January 31,
	2013		2012	2013		2012
	$		$	$		$
Revenue	1,366,000		5,805,000	4,281,000		9,596,000
Net earnings (loss) attributable to shareholders	(3,627,000	)	2,461,000	(9,369,000	)	(1,995,000	)
Diluted earnings (loss) per share	(0.13	)	0.08	(0.33	)	(0.08	)
Net cash flow from operating activities	1,870,000		1,744,000	5,922,000		(3,861,000	)

Additional information on the Corporation's results of operations is included in the Corporation's MD&A, and Financial Statements, which were filed on SEDAR today and are also available on the Company's website at www.altiusminerals.com.

On March 15, 2013 Alderon announced that Hebei Iron & Steel Group Co. Ltd. ("Hebei") has contributed the remaining $119,900,000 of its initial investment in Alderon and that Alderon has contributed the Kami iron ore project to a limited partnership which is owned 25 percent by Hebei and 75 percent by Alderon. Hebei is China's largest steel producer.

This concludes Hebei's initial strategic investment, first announced on April 13, 2012, into both Alderon and its Kami project for an aggregate amount of $182,200,000, in exchange for 19.9 per cent of the outstanding common shares of Alderon (completion announced on Sept. 4, 2012) and a 25 percent interest in the Kami LP, which was established to own the Kami project. Alderon has the remaining 75-per-cent interest in the Kami LP. Altius owns approximately 25% of the common shares of Alderon and holds a 3% gross sales royalty on the Kami iron ore project.

In addition, the Corporation is pleased to announce that on February 28, 2013, BAE Newplan Group Limited ("BAE"), a wholly owned subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin Inc., filed a Notice of Discontinuance with the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador abandoning an action it had brought against the Corporation and others in 2008. The action had claimed damages, interest and costs against the Corporation, its directors and other parties. BAE had specifically claimed that the Corporation was responsible for payment of $20,594,000, being the amount of billing alleged as outstanding from Newfoundland and Labrador Refining Corporation for engineering services.

The Notice of Discontinuance has no effect on the consolidated financial statements of the Corporation since the Corporation believed the action to be without merit and accordingly no provision had been recognized for the claim.

About Altius

Altius is focused on the mining and resources sector through prospect generation and the creation and acquisition of royalties and investments. Altius has a strong financial position with total assets of approximately $281 million, including $155 million in cash and marketable securities. It has also built a portfolio of directly and indirectly held junior resource investments, including 32.9 million shares of Alderon Iron Ore Corp. (TSX:ADV).

Altius owns a 3% gross sales royalty on the Kami iron ore project of Alderon, an effective 0.3% net smelter return royalty on the producing Voisey's Bay nickel-copper-cobalt mine, a 2% gross sales royalty on uranium in the Central Mineral Belt project of Paladin Energy Limited, and several earlier stage resource project royalties. Its growing project generation pipeline consists of a diversified portfolio of exploration projects, many of which have attracted joint venture funding partners.

Altius is a member of the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index and currently has 28,124,153 shares outstanding.