Applied Minerals, Inc. and KibbeChem, Inc. Announce A Joint Development and Masterbatch Manufacturing Agreement

EXHIBIT 99.1

New York, New York, December 9, 2010 - Applied Minerals, Inc. (“Applied Minerals”) (OTC BB: AMNL), a leading global producer of Halloysite Clay, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Joint Development and Masterbatch Manufacturing Agreement (the “Agreement”) with KibbeChem, Inc. (“KibbeChem”), a leading polymer compounder and industry-leading supplier of foaming agents to the polymer industry.

Under the terms of the Agreement, KibbeChem will act as Applied Minerals’ partner to toll pelletize a new range of high-performance Dragonite™ branded Halloysite Clay products developed specifically for the polyolefin and elastomer markets.  These solution-driven products, to be introduced by the end of 2010, will contain a new grade of our Dragonite™ to be used as a multi-functional additive designed to provide a meaningful improvement in properties at loadings of just 1-3%.

“The Agreement with KibbeChem establishes a very significant relationship for us,” said Andre Zeitoun, President and CEO of Applied Minerals. “The large investment we’ve made in R&D over the past year has resulted in a comprehensive understanding of the unique properties that our Dragonite™ product line offers to numerous end-use polymer applications.  Our partnership with KibbeChem will allow us to offer these properties in the form of a uniquely processed, pre-dispersed, free-flowing pellet.  The pelletized Dragonite™ will eliminate the need for an end user to have to do the compounding itself, greatly expanding the penetration of our product into the injection molding, compression molding and thermoforming industries.”

Zeitoun continued: “We have been working with the team at KibbeChem over the last six months and have found that their proprietary compounding techniques, solid industry relationships and industry expertise make them a perfect masterbatch partner for our Dragonite™ products. We have successfully conducted large scale compounding trials on KibbeChem’s commercial extrusion lines and the resulting products are being trialed by commercial end users. We have received some very promising