October 9, 2009 - Polaris Minerals Corporation announced on Wednesday that it has secured an option to lease an existing marine aggregate importing terminal in the Port of Long Beach, California.

The 8.3 acre site is privately owned and has operated for many years receiving construction aggregates from barges and storing in open stockpiles using mobile equipment. The site, which is already permitted to receive and distribute up to 3 million tons of construction aggregates per year, is located on a deepwater channel and is close to Interstate 710, which services the greater Los Angeles area.

The option period is extendable to June 30, 2010, during which time Polaris will carry out customary due diligence with a focus on permitting and physical changes related to the use of self-discharging Panamax vessels for marine delivery of sand and gravel from Polaris's Orca Quarry situated on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

In 2008, the Polaris joint venture company, Cemera Long Beach LLC, purchased a 12.4 acre site at Pier B in the Port of Long Beach for the purpose of receiving and distributing marine transported sand and gravel and is currently engaged in the detailed permitting process. It is now anticipated that, upon satisfactory conclusion of due diligence and lease negotiation, this new site will offer an attractive alternative to Pier B.

Herb Wilson, President and CEO of Polaris, said "We are very pleased to have the opportunity to evaluate this alternative facility which only recently became available. We believe it could be developed sooner and with significant capital savings over Pier B. Should due diligence confirm these views, we expect to commence the development of this new site and proceed with the sale of the Pier B land."

Polaris Minerals Corporation is exclusively focused on the development of construction aggregate quarries and marine receiving terminals on the west coast of North America to meet growing local supply deficits of construction aggregates in urban markets. In 2007, Polaris began shipping sand and gravel from the Orca Quarry to San Francisco Bay, Vancouver, and Hawaii.