Altai Resources Inc.'s Subsidiary, Altai Technologies Inc., has finalized the agreement with Mapcheck Inc. to launch 500 community-based Internet portals.

Business Editors

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2000

(TSE:ATI.) Altai Resources Inc. (ATI, TSE; US Sec. Rule 12g3-2(b) File # 82-2950), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Altai Technologies Inc. (&uot;Altai&uot;), has concluded its agreements with MapConnects Inc. of Waterloo and Techvest 1 L.P. of Toronto, to create Mapcheck Inc.

Mapcheck Inc. provides community-based, community-sponsored Internet portals with accurate, complete local information, including free, up-to-date business listings for all businesses in a community, online classified ads, news and events, and a wide-range of public-service information.

&uot;Search on MapcheckTM&uot; technology enables users to specify an area or neighborhood on a digital city street map and seek out information only within that area. This search-on-map function is unavailable on other Internet sites that simply provide &uot;display on map&uot; technology. With Mapcheck, users can quickly localize their search, so they receive only pertinent information from the area they have selected and avoid irrelevant material from other geographic regions.

Mapcheck enlists local operators (such as radio stations, newspapers and internet service providers) to create a secure and easy to use &uot;information utility for everyone&uot; in their communities. Community members, including businesses, consumers, schools, community service organizations and agencies can maintain their own information on the local Mapcheck site.

A Mapcheck site demonstration is running at www.mapcheck.com.

Altai will have 2 million (50%) of the Class A voting shares in Mapcheck by investing C$2 million through a series of instalments, the first of which amounting to C$400,000 has already been paid on the closing of the transaction. In exchange for transferring to Mapcheck the ownership of key mapping technology, MapConnects Inc. will have 2 million Class A voting shares, and Techvest will have 570,313 Class B non-voting shares amounting to 12.5% of the total equity of Mapcheck.

Directors and senior officers are from Altai and MapConnects, reflecting Altai's commitment to provide its technology partners with a significant on-going role in the operation of its investment targets. Fred McGarry (President and CEO), David Butler (Executive Vice-President), Eric S. Wheeler (Executive Vice-President/Secretary-Treasurer) and Trevor Grove (Vice President, Technology) come with many years' management experience in the high technology sector.

&uot;Mapcheck is so convenient, it will make the Internet an everyday necessity,&uot; says McGarry, &uot;Once your city has Mapcheck, you can search our street maps for local information or use our secure online system to make your own information map searchable. It's an information utility for everyone. Every Mapcheck community system will be a hub for e-Commerce, B2C (business to commerce), B2B (business to business) and Classifieds and a content portal for community services and perspectives.&uot;

Butler further states that &uot;all the basic services are free for the user, but will provide Mapcheck with many profitable levels of substantial revenues such as banner, branding, web content, business to business applications and commercial transaction fees.&uot;

&uot;The potential of the Internet is lost unless you get information and the business-to-business connections you really want&uot;, said Wheeler, &uot; -- it has to be about your community, and it has to be current and accurate. Mapcheck is the only concept I have seen that comes close to delivering what I want to find on the World Wide Web.&uot;

Mapcheck will launch its first commercial site in the Waterloo-Kitchener-Cambridge-Guelph area of Ontario, a community of 500,000 people. Up to 500 other sites across Canada and the United States will follow throughout 2000 and beyond, covering 200 million people. The strategy of partnering with local operators permits a rapid deployment of the Mapcheck service. Subsequent phases will cover other world markets. Mapcheck is currently recruiting local operators for cities across North America.

Key players in the media and in the delivery of secure e-commerce connections have already indicated their interest in participating in what will be a global web portal with true local focus.

Altai Resources Inc. will not issue any shares for this transaction. All expenditures of Altai Technologies Inc.'s business beyond and above $400,000 are and will be funded through its own equity. It is anticipated that the financing of approximately $5 million for Altai Technologies Inc. will be completed in early March 2000.