Company Website:
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DENVER -- (Business Wire)
Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. ("Solitario" or the "Company";
NYSE MKT: XPL; TSX: SLR) announces that, in connection
with a review by the Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC") of the
Company's technical disclosure under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards
of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") concerning the
Bongará Zinc Project in Peru, the Company is issuing this news release
to clarify or retract certain disclosures previously made by the Company.
Clarification of Previous Technical Disclosure
Given the nature of the agreement in respect of the Bongará Zinc Project
between Votorantim Metais ("Votorantim") and Solitario as described
below, Solitario did not previously have in its possession a sufficient
amount of data to produce a NI 43-101 compliant technical report.
Although a resource or reserve calculated under the JORC Code can be
used under NI 43-101, such a resource or reserve needs to be supported
by a NI 43-101 compliant technical report. As a result, the Company is
issuing this news release to clarify or retract the following
disclosures previously made by the Company.
-- In various documents previously posted on the Company's website, the
Company has included disclosure which outlined a potential resource
calculation for the Bongará Zinc Project. Since the Company has not
produced a NI 43-101 compliant technical report at this time, the
Company has removed such documentation from its website and the Company
retracts such statements and cautions that such statements should not be
relied upon. One of the documents in question is the Company's 2012
Annual Report dated April 15, 2013, which forms part of the Company's
disclosure record. As a result, this document will not be removed from
the Company's website, but the Company wishes to confirm that there are
no NI 43-101 compliant indicated or inferred resources on the Bongará
Zinc Project.
-- In various documents previously posted on the Company's website, the
Company has made statements such as daily production rate, mine life,
annual pounds of zinc+lead and ounces of silver, and recoverable dollar
value per tonne which may have been interpreted as an economic analysis
of the Bongará Zinc Project. The Company did not expect such statements
would be taken to imply results of an economic analysis, however, the
Company is retracting such statements and cautions that such statements
should not be relied upon. All such documents have been removed from the
Company's website.
Failure to Name the Qualified Person
The Company did not name a Qualified Person in its presentation of its
website materials. As mentioned above, the Company hereby withdraws all
previous website and presentation materials (other than the 2012 Annual
Report). The Company has had a Qualified Person review all presently
posted website materials and has committed to continuous review of such
materials by a Qualified Person and ensures that all disclosures name
the Qualified Person who prepared or approved the technical information.
Mr. Walt Hunt, COO for Solitario, who is a qualified person as defined
by NI 43-101, is the Qualified Person responsible for the material
contained in this press release.
Background to Bongará Zinc Project
Solitario's partner on the Bongará Zinc Project is Votorantim, which is
the mining arm of Votorantim Group, a privately held Brazilian business
conglomerate that is a leader in every market segment in which it
operates, including cement, pulp and paper, metals, chemicals, orange
juice, and finance. The metals business division accounted for
approximately one third of Votorantim's consolidated revenues from
production of zinc, nickel, steel and aluminum. Votorantim is the fifth
largest zinc producer in the world with six operating zinc mines and
three smelters. It owns the Cajamarquilla zinc smelter and is the
majority shareholder of Milpo, both located in Peru. Votorantim also has
operations in the United States and China.
Votorantim has spent $43 million on the Bongará Zinc Project to date and
manages all aspects of the project. The cornerstone of Solitario's
agreement with Votorantim is that Solitario's 30% interest is 100%
funded through commencement of commercial production. In fact, all funds
expended by Votorantim through completion of a Feasibility Study are
100% Votorantim’s obligation, with no repayment required by Solitario.
Votorantim has the option to earn up to a 70% interest in the project by
committing to place the project into production based upon a Feasibility
Study. Solitario does not have to pay back Votorantim for any of its
expenditures prior to completion of the Feasibility Study and a
production decision. After a production decision is made, Votorantim is
required to finance Solitario's 30% participating interest for
construction. Solitario will repay the loan facility through 50% of
Solitario's net cash flow distributions.
Votorantim and its parent company are both private entities. As a
result, Votorantim's resources and reserves are internally calculated
under The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results,
Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves ("the JORC Code"), which is produced
by the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee. As a private company,
Votorantim does not operate under public entity regulations and does not
routinely provide public updates of its activities.
NI 43-101 Technical Report
The Company has recently received sufficient data on the Bongará Zinc
Project that it believes will allow it to be able to prepare a NI 43-101
compliant technical report in the near future. The Company will provide
further details and timing as it becomes available.
About Solitario
Solitario is a gold, silver, platinum-palladium, and base metal
exploration and royalty company actively exploring in the United States,
Brazil, Mexico, and Peru. Solitario is currently focused on permitting
its 80%-owned Mt. Hamilton Gold project in eastern Nevada. Besides
Votorantim, Solitario has significant business relationships with
Hochschild Mining plc (LSE: HOCM.L / HOC LN) ("Hochschild") and Anglo
Platinum. Hochschild is funding a significant exploration program on its
Pachuca Norte silver-gold project in Mexico and Anglo Platinum is
funding the continued exploration of the Pedra Branca PGM project in
Brazil. Solitario is traded on the NYSE MKT ("XPL") and on the Toronto
Stock Exchange ("SLR"). Additional information about Solitario is
available online at www.solitarioxr.com.
This press release includes certain "Forward-Looking Statements"
within the meaning of section 21E of the United States Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements
of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation,
statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration
results and future plans and objectives of Solitario, future plans and
objectives of Solitario’s joint venture partner Votorantim Metais are
forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate
and actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Development ofSolitario’s
properties are subject to the success of exploration, completion and
implementation of an economically viable mining plan, obtaining the
necessary permits and approvals from various regulatory authorities,
compliance with operating parameters established by such authorities and
political risks such as higher tax and royalty rates, foreign ownership
controls and our ability to finance in countries that may become
politically unstable. Important factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from Solitario’s expectations are disclosed under
the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Solitario’s documents filed
from time to time with Canadian Securities Commissions, the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory
authorities.
Contacts:
Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp.
Christopher E. Herald,
(303) 534-1030
President & CEO
or
Debbie Mino-Austin,
(800) 229-6827
Director – Investor Relations
Source: Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp.
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