Award of licences

Alba Mineral Resources PLC
19 October 2006



Alba Mineral Resources plc
('Alba' or 'the Company')


Acquisition of Swedish Exploration Licences


Alba Mineral Resources plc, the UK based exploration company with a diversified
commodities portfolio, announces the award of four exploration licences for
nickel, copper, cobalt, gold, silver, platinum and palladium (totalling 4501
hectares) in northern Sweden. This acquisition forms part of a strategic
partnership with Altius Minerals Corporation (TSX-V: ALS) to explore for
magmatic nickel sulphide deposits in Scandinavia. Work programmes have commenced
and field programmes are scheduled for early Q2 2007.


Highlights

•  Award of four exploration licences in northern Sweden, totalling 4501
   hectares, for nickel, copper, cobalt, gold, silver and platinum group metals
  (PGM)

•  New licence areas considered highly prospective for ultramafic
   sill-hosted Ni-Cu-Co-PGM mineralization similar to the Thompson Nickel Belt 
   in Canada based on previous geochemical and geophysical surveys

•  Furuberget licence is only 6 km along strike from the known historical
   drilled nickel occurrence of Rormyrberget (4 Mt with a grade of 0.6% Ni and
   0.06% Cu)


Michael Nott, Managing Director, Alba Mineral Resources commented; 'The granting
of four highly-prospective mineral licences in Sweden significantly enhances the
Company's profile with respect to nickel exploration.  We believe the
similarities in geology between the northern Swedish licences and the Thompson
Nickel Belt of Canada are promising, and are encouraged by the abundant nickel
mineralization in adjacent areas'.


Granting of Exploration Licences

The four awarded exploration licences in the Vindeln Nickel Belt of northern
Sweden are as follows:


  • Andersfors (500 hectares)
  • Furuberget (770 hectares)
  • Rossjon (2751 hectares)
  • Skivsjon (480 hectares)


The licences award Alba the rights to explore for nickel (Ni), copper (Cu),
cobalt (Co), gold (Au), silver (Ag) and platinum group metals (PGM). A work
programme has commenced with database construction and detailed target
generation studies with field sampling programmes planned during the first half
of 2007.

In accordance with the Swedish mining law, licences can only be explored by a
Swedish registered company.  Alba Mineral Resources Sweden AB has been
established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alba to comply with this law and
conduct this exploration work.


END


For further information contact:

Lance O'Neill, Chairman
Alba Mineral Resources plc            Tel: [phone]

Michael Nott, Managing Director
Alba Mineral Resources plc            Tel: [phone]

Justine Howarth/ Victoria Thomas
Parkgreen Communications.             Tel: [phone]

Liam Murray
City Financial Associates             Tel: [phone]



Notes to Editors

Alba Mineral Resources plc is a committed explorer with a diversified commodity
portfolio, primarily nickel, gold, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals,
focussed on the Appalachian-Caledonide trend, a zone extending from the eastern
seaboard of North America to Scandinavia. Alba currently has interests in a
number of well researched properties in Scotland, Ireland and Sweden, owned in
its own right or in conjunction with other parties.

Geology and Mineral Potential of the Licences


The bedrock geology to the Vindeln Nickel Belt is a 1.90 Ga metamorphosed rift
sedimentary sequence intruded by ultramafic sills.  Ultramafic sills
(intrusions) and lava flows are known to be intimately associated with the
formation of magmatic sulphide mineral deposits.  The geology and the known
mineralization in the Vindeln Nickel Belt show similarities to the world-class
Thompson Nickel Belt (Manitoba, Canada).  The Thompson Nickel Belt annually
produces more than 45,000 tonnes of nickel metal. Nickel sulphide mineralization
in the Vindeln Nickel Belt occurs as disseminated to massive sulphide and
breccia sulphide in ultramafic rock intruded into the rift stratigraphy and
often extends into the wall rock.

The Company believes the four licences awarded by the Swedish Mining
Inspectorate (Bergsstaten) are prospective for nickel mineralization based on
bedrock geology, overburden geochemistry, geophysics and proximity to known
sulphide accumulations.  For example, the Furuberget licence is only 6 km along
strike from the known historical drilled nickel occurrence of Rormyrberget: 4 Mt
with a grade of 0.6% Ni and 0.06% Cu (source Swedish Geological Survey, SGU).




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