Altius Provides 2022 Year-End Project Generation Update
TSX: ALS | OTCQX: ATUSF Altius Minerals Corporation
January 6, 2023 | St. John’s, Newfoundland
Altius Provides 2022 Year-End Project Generation Update
Altius Minerals Corporation (TSX: ALS) (OTCQX: ATUSF) (“Altius”) is pleased to provide an update on
its Project Generation (“PG”) business activities and its public junior equities portfolio. The market value of
the junior equities portfolio at December 31, 202 2 was $50.3 million, compared to $ 43.5 million at
September 30, 202 2 and $55.5 million at December 31, 2021. During the year , new cash- based
investments amounted to $5.4 million and the market value (year-end basis) of shares received as part of
property sales agreements totaled $5.6 million. Sales of public equities from the portfolio totaled $3.4 million
while income of $4.3 million was recorded in relation to Altius’ exit from a private Chile based project
generation investment vehicle. An updated list of the public equity holdings has been posted to the Altius
website at http://altiusminerals.com/projects/junior-equities.
New investments completed during the year included equity purchases of Gungnir Resources Inc. (TSX-V:
GUG), Marimaca Copper Corp. (TSX: MARI), Callinex Mines Inc. (TSX- V: CNX), Lara Exploration Ltd.
(TSX-V: LRA), and Archer Exploration Corp. ( CSE: RCHR). Altius also increased its equity exposure to
several existing investments including Orogen Royalties Inc. (TSX-V: OGN) (“Orogen”), Adventus Mining
Corp. (TSX-V: ADZN) (“Adventus”), AbraSilver Resource Corp. (TSX-V: ABRA) (“AbraSilver”) and Wolfden
Resources Corp. (TSX-V: WLF) (“Wolfden”).
In 2022, an estimated 320,000 metres of drilling was completed across projects in which Altius has royalty
and/or equity exposure.
Brian Dalton, Altius’ President and CEO commented, “2022 was a challenging year in terms of equity
valuations and capital access for most junior explorers and/or developers and this was reflected in our
portfolio performance - albeit to a lesser degree than the broader junior market . This weakness also
presented opportunities, however, and we were net investors as a result. We remain bullish that the long-
term supply -demand imbalance facing most mined commodities has been exacerbated by the weaker
investment and sentiment conditions experienced during the year and we believe that the value of quality
projects and explorers will better reflect this in future periods.”
Project Generation Portfolio 2022 Highlights
Altius increased its equity position in Orogen throughout the year to 29,315,015 shares representing an
approximate 16.5% equity stake in the company (before considering a further 7.1 million common share
purchase warrants held by Altius). Orogen continued to execute on its business model of project generation-
based royalty creation with noteworthy highlights including receipt of first revenues from its Ermitaño royalty
in Mexico, continued advancement of Silicon in Nevada, and the creation of 8 new early-stage royalties
through sales/option agreements of generated projects. At Silicon , a significant maiden resource was
published by the operator from the first of the discoveries made on the project, over which Orogen holds a
1% net smelter return (“NSR”) royalty (and Altius directly holds a 1.5% NSR royalty). Altius and Orogen
also entered into a strategic alliance to generate new projects in Nevada that bear geologic similarities to
the Silicon discovery with two projects created together thus far.
Champion Iron Limited (TSX: CIA) (“Champion”) continued to advance an updated feasibility study for the
Kami Project in Labrador which it acquired in 2021 (see Champion Kami Project overview here). Champion
is evaluating the Kami Project’s potential to produce ultr a-high purity iron ore products that could provide
feedstocks suitable for use in the growing electric arc furnace steelmaking segment. Results of this study
are expected in mid to late 2023. Altius is a shareholder of Champion and holds a 3% gross sales r oyalty
(“GSR”) over the Kami Project.
TSX: ALS | OTCQX: ATUSF Altius Minerals Corporation
Adventus, of which Altius is a major shareholder, continued to advance its Ecuadorian project portfolio,
including arrangement of a US$236 million project finance package for its Curipamba copper-gold project
as well as country and community engagement progress with k ey environmental and social permits
expected by the end of Q2 2023 (see Adventus corporate presentation here). In addition to its substantial
equity holding in Adventus, Altius holds a 2% NSR royalty over the Curipamba project.
Wolfden continues to progress its high -grade polymetallic copper -lead-zinc-gold-silver Pickett M ountain
project in n orthern Maine including recently garnering local community support in advance of filing a
rezoning application with the State to allow for t he development of a new underground mining operation
(see Wolfden press release dated November 14, 2022 here). Altius is a significant shareholder of Wolfden.
AbraSilver, of which Altius is an equity shareholder, has continued to advance a prefeasibility study planned
for completion in 2023 on its silver -gold Diablillos project in Argentina, where , in addition to its Oculto
deposit, the company has recently reported a new discovery at the Southwest Zone (see AbraSilver press
release dated December 15, 2022 here). In the past year , AbraSilver also reported on the discovery of a
new copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry system at its La Coipita project (see AbraSilver press release dated
June 28, 2022 here), where Altius retains the option to acquire an existing 1.1% NSR royalty.
Surge Copper Corp. (TSX-V: SURG) (“Surge”) significantly advanced its Ootsa Cu- Au porphyry project in
British Columbia during the year increasing certain resources and commencing a preliminary economic
assessment on the Berg project later in the year. The c ompany also completed a 22,000-metre regional
exploration program focusing on testing of a number of high- priority exploration targets across the Ootsa-
Berg district (see Surge press release dated November 2, 2022 here). Altius is an equity shareholder of
Surge.
Several portfolio companies of which Altius gained its equity stake through property sales in Newfoundland
& Labrador completed exploration campaigns and reported drilling results throughout the year. Some of the
highlights include:
Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSX-V:SIC) continued to carry out extensive drilling programs at its Moosehead
Gold project and reported several strong intercepts including a recent result of a 39.60 m intercept (core
length) of 12.50 g/t Au (from 295.30 m downhole) including a higher-grade interval of 10.25 m grading 41.97
g/t Au (from 312.35 m downhole) in MH-22-463 (see project overview here ). Altius retains a 2 % NSR
interest in the Moosehead project.
Sterling Metals Corp. (TSX.V: SAG) (“Sterling”) reported high grade silver assays from its Heimdall zone
and a new zone 500 metres north of Heimdall at the Sail Pond project (see Sterling press release dated
December 12, 2022 here). Altius is an equity holder of Sterling and holds a 2% NSR royalty over the Sail
Pond Project.
Canstar Resources Inc. (TSX -V: ROX) (“Canstar”) reported additional high grade drilling results at its
Kendall prospect throughout the year as well as discovery of a new gold occurrence near Facheaux Bay,
located 43 kilometres southwest of the Kendell prospect on its Golden Baie project (see Canstar press
release dated December 13, 2022 here). Altius is an equity holder of Canstar and holds a 1% NSR royalty
over the Golden Baie Project.
TRU Precious Metals Corp. (TSX-V: TRU) (“TRU”) advanced its Golden Rose project in 2023 with multiple
drilling programs at the Woods Lake Gold Zone and discovery of high grade gold at its Mark's Pond and
Rich House targets located along the highly prospective Cape Ray -Valentine Lake shear zone (see TRU
press release dated November 23, 2022 here). Altius is an equity holder of TRU and holds a 2% NSR
royalty over the Golden Rose Project.
Churchill Resources (TSX-V: CRI) (“Churchill”) undertook significant work at its Taylor Brook Nickel project
during the year fulfilling its Option Agreement with Altius and issuing an additional 9 million common shares
bringing the Altius equity stake to 11,423,180 common shares. Results of a comprehensive geophysical
TSX: ALS | OTCQX: ATUSF Altius Minerals Corporation
program followed by a 5000 meter drilling campaign were announced in mid- October highlighted by high
grade nickel occurrences (see Churchill press release dated October 11, 2022 here) . Altius holds a 1.6%
GSR royalty over the Taylor Brook Project.
High Tide Resources Corp. (TSX -V: HRTC) (“High Tide”) continued to advance its Labrador West Iron
project completing a dril l program highlight ed by numerous intersections of iron mineralization including
205.16 metres of 32.06% Fe (see High Tide press release dated August 10, 2022 here). High Tide also
fulfilled its Option Agreement pertaining to the project during the year issuing in total 13,427,507 common
shares to Altius. Altius also holds a 2.75% GSR on iron ore and a 2.75% NSR royalty on all other minerals
over the Labrador West Iron project.
Qualified Person
Lawrence Winter, Ph.D., P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration for Altius, a Qualified Person as defined by
National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, is responsible for the scientific
and technical data presented herein and has reviewed, prepared and approved this release.
About Altius
Altius’s strategy is to create per share growth through a diversified portfolio of royalty assets that relate to
long life, high margin operations. This strategy further provides shareholders with exposures that are well
aligned with sustainability -related global growth trends including the electricity generation transition from
fossil fuel to renewables, transportation electrification, reduced emissions from steelmaking and increasing
agricultural yield requirements. These macro-trends each hold the potential to cause increased demand for
many of Altius’s commodity exposures including copper, renewable based electricity, several key battery
metals (lithium, nickel and cobalt), clean iron ore, and potash. In addition, Altius runs a successful Project
Generation business that originates mineral projects for sale to developers in exchange for equity positions
and royalties. Altius has 47,624,958 common shares issued and outstanding that are listed on Canada’s
Toronto Stock Exchange. It is a member of both the S&P/TSX Small Cap and S&P/TSX Global Mining
Indices.
For further information, please contact:
Chad Wells
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 1.877.576.2209
Flora Wood
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 1.877.576.2209
Direct: 1.416.346.9020