Media Advisory – Ritchie Bros. to sell mining and large equipment in Charleston unreserved auction

    Rock trucks, wheel loaders, crawler tractors and an ADDCAR(TM) highwall
    mining system to be sold remotely by Virtual Ramp auction

CHARLESTON, WV, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA), the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, will conduct a large, multi-million dollar mining and heavy equipment public unreserved auction in Charleston, WV on September 28, 2009 starting at 8:00 a.m. at the Charleston Civic Center. The equipment being sold in the auction is part of a complete dispersal for Appalachian Fuels LLC, a large mining operation based in Ashland, Kentucky. The auction is expected to attract bidders from across North America as well as overseas.

More than 500 equipment items to be sold during this auction are located at several mines in Kentucky, West Virginia and Illinois. They will be sold remotely in the auction using the Ritchie Bros. proprietary Virtual Ramp auction method. Equipment being sold for Appalachian Fuels includes 40 crawler tractors, 35 wheel loaders, and 20 rock trucks, and a large selection of motor graders, hydraulic excavators, articulated dump trucks, water wagons and blast-hole drills. The auction will also feature an electric-powered ADDCAR(TM) highwall mining system used to extract previously abandoned coal reserves from the walls of open-pit coal mines. Every item in the auction will be sold to the highest bidder on auction day regardless of price, with no minimum bids or reserve prices.

Equipment can be inspected at each mine site after September 21, 2009. For more details regarding viewing arrangements go to www.rbauction.com/mining.

    WHO:    Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, largest industrial auctioneer, selling
            equipment for Appalachian Fuels LLC

    WHAT:   Multi-million dollar unreserved public mining and heavy equipment
            auction

    WHEN:   Monday, September, 28, 2009 - auction starts at 8:00 a.m.

    WHERE:  Charleston Civic Center at 200 Civic Center Drive, Charleston, WV
            25301
            Auction site phone: +1.304.342.0717

About Ritchie Bros.

Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, selling more equipment to on-site and online bidders than any other company in the world. The Company has over 110 locations in more than 25 countries, including 39 auction sites worldwide. Ritchie Bros. sells, through unreserved public auctions, a broad range of used and unused industrial assets, including equipment, trucks and other assets utilized in the construction, transportation, agricultural, material handling, mining, forestry, petroleum and marine industries. The Company maintains a web site at www.rbauction.com and sponsors an equipment wiki at www.RitchieWiki.com.

SOURCE Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers