Altius Reports Fourth Quarter 2020 Attributable Royalty Revenue of Approximately $21.9 Million

Altius Minerals Corporation (ALS:TSX) (ATUSF: OTCQX) (“Altius” or the “Corporation”) expects to report record attributable quarterly royalty revenue^† of approximately $21.9 million ($0.53 per share) for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2020. This compares to quarterly revenues of $16.2 million ($0.39 per share) in Q3 2020 and $17.6 million ($0.41 per share) in the comparable quarter last year. For the full year ended December 31, 2020 Altius expects to report royalty revenue of $67.5 million ($1.62 per share) compared to $78.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 ($1.83 per share).

Fourth quarter royalty revenue represents a significant rebound from levels recorded during the first three quarters of the year, benefitting primarily from stronger underlying commodity prices, a significant end-of-year dividend issuance by the Iron Ore Company of Canada (“IOC”) and higher tonnage-based revenue related to a greater share of ownership in its Alberta thermal coal royalty partnership.

Base metal (primarily copper) revenue of $6.8 million, or 31% of total royalty revenue, was positively impacted by improved prices but this was offset during the quarter by unplanned production interruptions at Chapada and 777. While full production has now resumed at both operations, we expect residual volume-based impacts to revenue in the current quarter due to normal lag periods between production and royalty recognitions.

Potash revenue of $3.0 million was comparable to the prior quarter and year ago comparable quarter. Stronger pricing during Q4 was offset by reduced production throughput due to planned maintenance at key mines. Revenue was lower on a year-over-year basis on lower annual average realized pricing but offset partially by higher total annual production volumes.

Thermal (electrical) coal revenue of $6.3 million in Q4 2020 was higher than the year ago comparable quarter of $3.5 million, and the $2.7 million recorded in Q3 2020. The acquisition of additional royalty partnership units from Liberty Metals & Mining Holdings LLC announced on July 27, 2020 for a net cost of $9.0 million resulted in incremental revenue of $3.0 million during the quarter.

Iron ore revenue of $5.2 million, or 24% of total royalty revenue, was higher this quarter compared to the previous quarter as IOC paid a significant dividend to shareholders after having elected to not declare dividends during the first three quarters of the year. This in turn resulted in an increased flow through of dividend payments to Altius from Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation (“LIORC”). On a year-to-date basis, 2020 revenue was lower than 2019 on reduced IOC dividend payments and a reduction in the LIORC shareholding level that the Corporation completed earlier in the year.