Uranerz Energy Corporation (URZ)

[hardcore holly]

CASPER, WYOMING--(Marketwire - 01/04/11) - Uranerz Energy Corporation ("Uranerz" or the "Company") (TSX:URZ - News)(AMEX:URZ - News)(Frankfurt:U9E - News) is pleased to announce that the State of Wyoming, Department of Environmental Quality ("WDEQ"), has issued the commercial Permit to Mine (Permit Number 778) for the Company's Nichols Ranch In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") Uranium Project located in Johnson and Campbell counties in the Central Powder River Basin of Wyoming, U.S.A. The Nichols Ranch project contains an estimated 5.5 million pounds of uranium resources and will serve as a platform to develop the Company's other Powder River Basin projects through the permit amendment provisions of the regulatory process.

"This is a very significant event for our company, and it is one of the first new commercial uranium Permits to Mine issued by the WDEQ in almost 20 years," stated Uranerz President and CEO Glenn Catchpole. "It gives Uranerz the State's approval to construct and operate an ISR uranium mine and demonstrates, through no negative comments being submitted to the WDEQ during the public comment period, that the citizens of Wyoming support uranium mining as long as operations follow the State's comprehensive environmental laws and regulations."

On the federal level, Uranerz will need the final Materials License from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC") before construction can commence. The Company received the draft NRC Materials License in late November, 2010.