POLARIS ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS AND CONFERENCE CALL

VANCOUVER, Nov. 9 /CNW/ - Polaris Minerals Corporation (TSX:PLS) today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2010. All financial results are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.

Revenue in the third quarter increased by 22% compared with last year principally due to a 13% increase in sales volume. For the first nine months of 2010 revenue increased 11% and sales volumes increased by 7% compared with the prior period. 

The Company incurred a net loss in the quarter of $3.8 million ($0.07 loss per share), due primarily to continuing low sales volumes, compared with a net loss of $5.2 million ($0.10 loss per share) in the comparative quarter last year.  For the nine months ending September 30, 2010, the Company incurred a net loss of $13.6 million ($0.25 loss per share) compared with a net loss of $10.0 million ($0.19 loss per share) in the prior year.  The loss for the quarter was negatively impacted by an accrual of $0.9 million (nine months total $1.2 million) for annual minimum volume penalties to the Company's shipper, a direct consequence of the lower volumes than anticipated. The nine month loss was also impacted by a one-time net charge of $4.2 million as a result of restructuring the Company's shipping contracts.

At September 30, 2010, the Company had working capital of $4.5 million including cash of $0.8 million.  Subsequent to the quarter end, the Company secured a CAD$5 million, one year, bridge loan and entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the sale of the freehold Pier B site in the Port of Long Beach, subject to satisfactory due diligence.  Upon completion of this sale, the Company will realize approximately $14 million of cash after costs.

Herb Wilson, President and CEO, commented:  "Third quarter sales were encouraging and in common with the industry, we believe that the bottom of this severe recession has been reached.  Next year should see the beginning of a sustained recovery, the pace of which will be reassessed as the impacts of the recent political changes become apparent. Shipments in the final quarter of 2010, however, will be less than last year as reduced shipping capacity is available because of routine dry docking requirements."  He continued: "We are very pleased to have signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Pier B land in the Port of Long Beach and have a high expectation that the sale will be successfully closed following the purchaser's due diligence.  We were also pleased to ensure liquidity, pending completion of the Pier B sale, through the recently secured CAD$5 million, one year, term loan provided by a private investor group."

This financial summary should be read in conjunction with the Company's September 30, 2010 Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis, both of which are available on www.sedar.com as well as the Company's website, www.polarmin.com.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 8:00 am Pacific Standard Time.  Details to access the call live are as follows:

• Via telephone by calling 888-231-8191 in North America or 647-427-7450 internationally
• Via webcast at: http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/viewEvent.cgi?eventID=3263920

The webcast will be archived for 90 days following the call at the above noted link.  The conference call will also be recorded and available for replay at 11:00 am PST and will be available until November 24, 2010.  To access the replay, dial 1-800-642-1687 or 416-849-0833 and use access code 18305145 to hear the recording.

Polaris Minerals Corporation is exclusively focused on the development of quarries and the production of construction aggregates in British Columbia for marine transport to urban markets on the Pacific coasts of North America to meet growing local supply deficits. In 2007, Polaris began shipping sand and gravel from the Orca Quarry to San Francisco Bay, Vancouver and Hawaii.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws.  These statements and information appear in this document and include estimates, forecasts, information and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things the future financial or operating performance of the Company, costs and timing of the development of the construction aggregate quarry, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital and operating expenditures, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of quarrying operations, environmental risks, reclamation expenses, and title disputes.  Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "will", "should", "plans", "expects", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "budget", and "scheduled" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology.  Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies.  Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees and there can be no assurance that such statements and information will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's Annual Report and under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form (AIF) in respect of its financial year-ended December 31, 2009, both of which are filed with Canadian regulators on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).  The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements and information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.  All written and oral forward-looking statements and information attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.

For further information:

Herb Wilson, President and CEO
Lisa Dea, VP Finance and CFO
Polaris Minerals Corporation
Tel: [phone]
[email protected]