Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Breaks its Record Again for Largest Auction Week in North America

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--Dec. 20, 2005--Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, (TSX:RBA) announces it beat last week's record for the Company's largest ever North American auction week. For the week of December 12-16, 2005, Ritchie Bros. had gross auction sales of more than US$111 million. Two-day unreserved auctions were held in Toronto, Ontario; Los Angeles, California; and North East, Maryland, with one-day unreserved auctions held in Las Vegas, Nevada; Edmonton, Alberta; Phoenix, Arizona; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. On December 12, 2005, the Company had previously announced it had broken the same record with gross auction sales of more than US$105 million.

The Edmonton, AB unreserved public auction was one of the larger auctions of the week with gross auction sales of more than US$31 million (CAD$35.9). Over 3,050 people from 15 countries - including 31 U.S. states and 12 Canadian provinces and territories - registered to bid on over 1,950 lots in the December 15 auction. Bidder registrations included 399 participants who used the Ritchie Bros. online bidding service, rbauctionBid-Live, and accounted for over US$3 million worth of trucks and equipment items. The internet participants were buyers or runner-up bidders on 16% of the lots available for online bidding. Although it was a one-day auction sale, the Company has dual auction ramps at this location that enable a large amount of equipment items to be sold during the day.

"We had quite a bit of late model equipment at our auction," said Doug Olive, Ritchie Bros. Divisional Manager - Prairie Division. "The oilfield industry is booming right now and so the demand for equipment is really strong. Our customers need this equipment and, from what they tell us, the auction was good timing; many of the items will be put to work immediately."

The last four unreserved auctions of 2005 on the Ritchie Bros. auction calendar this week include Dubai, UAE (3-day); Toledo, Ohio; Prince George, British Columbia; and Stamford, Connecticut.

Details on all upcoming Ritchie Bros. auctions, including equipment listings, are available on www.rbauction.com.

About Ritchie Bros.

Ritchie Bros. is the world's largest auctioneer of industrial equipment, operating through over 110 locations in more than 25 countries around the world. The Company sells, through unreserved public auctions, a broad range of used and unused industrial equipment including equipment utilized in the construction, transportation, material handling, mining, forestry, petroleum, marine, real estate, and agricultural industries. The Company maintains a web site at www.rbauction.com.

Investors and potential investors should note that this information may not be indicative of the overall financial performance of the Company for this or any period.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (TSX:RBA)