Polaris announces 2008 second quarter results and conference call

    VANCOUVER, Aug. 12 /EMWNews/ - Polaris Minerals

Corporation (TSX:PLS) today reported financial results for the second

quarter ended June 30, 2008. All financial results are in US Dollars,

unless otherwise noted.



    During the quarter the Company generated an adjusted EBITDA of $266,000

(2007: loss of $279,000) and a gross margin from operations of $397,000, or

$0.79 per ton. Revenues increased 49% in the quarter to $6.57 million

compared with $4.40 million for the quarter ending June 30, 2007, which was

the second operating quarter for the Company. Cash used for operations

during the quarter has reduced to $220,000 from $1.8 million in the first

quarter of 2008. At June 30, 2008, the Company had cash and cash

equivalents on hand of $8.27 million and, with the exception of capital

leases on certain items of mobile plant, had no debt.



    Loss from operations for the quarter, net of stock-based compensation,

was $1.41 million, compared with a loss of $868,000 in the quarter ended

June 30, 2007. The Company's net loss reported was $1.93 million, ($0.05

per share) compared with a net loss of $1.21 million ($0.03 per share) for

the quarter ended June 30, 2007. This increased loss is attributable to

higher staffing and business development costs as the Company maintains its

high rate of activity in terminal and market development.



    Marco Romero, Polaris President & CEO, said: "We had a solid second

quarter, with a substantial improvement in cash used by operations and an

improved gross margin. The margin improvements were principally due to

price increases realized in the market and the 63% increase in volume

throughput at the Richmond Terminal during the quarter, which were tempered

by increasing fuel costs in shipping. Our sales contracts allow for the

recovery of these increased fuel costs during the following year, and there

is therefore a timing delay in the recovery of these expenses."



    Commenting on 2008, Mr. Romero said: "Our strong growth continued

despite the slowdown in construction activity in California. We sold

500,000 tons of sand and gravel in the second quarter, bringing our sales

total for the first two quarters to 1.02 million tons. Third quarter sales

have been strong and we will ship more than 700,000 tons during the period.

We anticipate shipping between 2.1 to 2.5 million tons in 2008, an increase

of approximately 100 percent over 2007 shipments, at the mid point of this

range. Our previously announced acquisition of the Pier B land in the Port

of Long Beach, in collaboration with our Strategic Alliance partner, is due

to close on or about August 18th, and will create a strategic point of

entry into the massive Los Angeles metropolitan area market beginning early

in 2011. We are increasingly well-positioned to benefit from the ongoing

depletion of indigenous aggregate sources in California and the eventual

increase in demand generated by infrastructure, commercial and residential

construction activity."



    This financial summary should be read in conjunction with the Company's

June 30, 2008 unaudited consolidated financial statements and Management's

Discussion and Analysis, both of which will be available on http://www.sedar.com.



    Conference Call



    The Company will host a conference call at 7 am PT on Wednesday, August

13, 2008. Investors and other interested parties may access the

teleconference live by calling 416.644.3430 or 800.814.4853 in North

America or internationally and 00 800 2288 3501 from the United Kingdom.



    A live webcast of the conference call will be available through the

link below: http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/viewEvent.cgi?eventID=2382160



    The webcast will be archived for 90 days following the call.



    The conference call will be recorded and available for replay at 10 am

PT and will be available until August 27. In North America dial

416.640.1917, and for international calls, dial 877.289.8525. The access

code to hear the recording is 21280416 followed by the pound sign.



    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 west coast 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, BC 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,

2007, both of which are filed with Canadian regulators on SEDAR

(http://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.