ATHABASCA URANIUM CLOSES ON WEBB RIVER OPTION PHASE 1

    TSXV: UAX
    US Symbol: ATURF

VANCOUVER, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Athabasca Uranium Inc. is pleased to announce that it has received regulatory approval for, and subsequently closed on the first phase of the option to acquire the Webb River Property ("Webb River"), a 5,386 hectare property located on the eastern margin of the uranium-rich Athabasca basin in northeast Saskatchewan.

As announced on September 15, 2010 the Company has the option to earn a 100% interest (subject to a 1% net smelter return) in Webb River by paying an initial $50,000 and issuing 1,500,000 common shares to an arm's-length vendor and making additional payments totalling $600,000 plus filing $2,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the Property within four years. The 1% NSR may be purchased by the Company for $1,500,000. The Company has now made the initial payment and issued the 1,500,000 shares, fulfilling its first commitment under the Option agreement.

Webb River covers an area of 5,386 hectares and lies approximately 29 kilometers southwest of the Company's McCarthy Property on the eastern edge of the Athabasca Basin, the most productive uranium-producing region in the world. It lies within the same geological setting and is proximal to two significant eastern basin uranium deposits: West Bear and Moore Lake.

The Company is currently developing its exploration program for Webb River in conjunction with its McCarthy Project, and will likely expand the overall 2010-2011 program to include elements such as were employed at both West Bear and Moore Lake. The West Bear Deposit, part of UEX Corporation's Hidden Bay project, is approximately 50 kilometers northeast of Webb River, and is a classic unconformity-hosted deposit at very shallow depths. At Moore Lake, approximately 29 kilometers southeast of McCarthy and contiguous to Webb River, the JNR/Denison joint venture has undertaken a series of aggressive exploration programs on the Maverick Zone and on numerous historic and newly identified regional prospects. Drilling has focused on geophysical anomalies defined by ground TEM, gravity, and seismic work over the Maverick Zone. In addition to assessing the potential type and dimensions of a deposit that could exist in similar and nearby, local geological settings such as West Bear and Moore Lake, the focus of the Company's exploration program at Webb River will be on delineating drill targets from a combination of earlier and expected survey work on the property. Several north-east trending conductors were successfully delineated in 1980 when an 850-kilometer line airborne VLF-EM and magnetometer survey in an east-west direction with 200-meter line spacing and 85 kilometers of ground VLF-EM, plus another 678 kilometers were completed by Sander Geophysics and Phantom Exploration Services, respectively.

In conjunction with the now expanded proposed exploration program, the Company is currently planning a private placement financing, a significant portion of which will likely include a private placement of flow-through common shares. Terms of the private placement and a detailed use of proceeds are being finalized and will be announced when available.

About Athabasca Uranium

Athabasca Uranium Inc. is a uranium exploration and development company acquiring and exploring properties located in the uranium-rich Athabasca Basin in northeast Saskatchewan. The Company's stated vision is to explore the region using leading-edge technology to become a world-class uranium mining company. Additional information on Athabasca Uranium and its vision is available on the Company's website at www.athabascauranium.com.

    ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
    "Gil Schneider"
    Gil Schneider, President & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Athabasca Uranium Inc.