Altius Announces Establishment of Automatic Repurchase Plan

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR--(Marketwire - May 16, 2012) - Altius Minerals Corporation ("Altius") (TSX:ALS) has entered into an automatic share purchase plan agreement (the "Plan") with a broker in connection with its normal course issuer bid ("NCIB") previously announced on March 29, 2012 to facilitate purchases of Altius' common shares ("Shares") under the NCIB. Altius has also filed with the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") an amended Notice to provide for the implementation of the Plan. Since the beginning of the current repurchase program, Altius has not repurchased any Shares under the NCIB.

The Plan permits Altius' broker to repurchase Shares under the NCIB at any time, including during internal blackout periods and/or when Altius is in possession of undisclosed material information, subject to certain price limitations and other parameters prescribed by the TSX, applicable Canadian securities laws and the terms of the Plan. Altius may also instruct the broker to make specific purchases of Shares, and may suspend or terminate the Plan, provided that in each instance, Altius certifies to the broker that it is not in possession of any undisclosed material information about itself or its securities.

The automatic repurchase plan constitutes an "automatic plan" for purposes of applicable Canadian securities laws and has been pre-cleared by the TSX.

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 $300 million, including $175 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. (TSX:ADV).

Altius owns 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, a 3% gross sales royalty on 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 S&P/TSX Global Mining Index and currently has 28,759,675 shares outstanding.