The current year’s earnings include a pre-tax gain of CAD38.2 million on the settlement of the equity forward agreement on the Corporation’s remaining 2,500,000 Aurora Energy Resources Inc. shares. Royalty revenue from the Labrador Nickel Royalty Limited Partnership was CAD4.1 million and interest income of CAD4.9 million was recognized during the year. The Corporation repurchased 2,659,530 common shares under its normal course issuer bid during the current year at a total cost of CAD15.2 million or an average of CAD5.72 per share.
The fourth quarter net loss was primarily a result of the write down of CAD2.3 million on investments in exploration and development stage companies, which continued to be adversely affected by the poor financial conditions in the global equity and financial markets. Most of the investments written down were initially received from share payments under earn-in agreements or from the vending of mineral properties.
During the quarter, exploration work continued under 14 active mineral exploration agreements targeting a variety of mineral commodities including iron ore, uranium, potash, oil shale, base metals, and gold in Eastern Canada. Subsequent to the quarter-end, the Corporation also expanded its generative exploration business to Alaska with the formation of a strategic alliance with Millrock Resources Inc. and through participation in a private placement financing of Millrock to fund prospect generation, principally for gold, in five areas in Alaska. The Corporation continues to review an increasing number of opportunities to prudently deploy its capital while valuations of quality opportunities remain attractive.
As of April 30, 2009, Altius Minerals had CAD188.9 million in total assets including CAD157.5 million in cash and marketable securities and has no debt. All of the marketable securities are held in highly liquid government guaranteed and investment grade marketable securities with near-term maturities. The Corporation does not anticipate any liquidity issues with any of its cash and marketable securities. Altius Minerals currently has 28,375,195 shares outstanding.
