Mr. Chris Herald reports
SOLITARIO REPORTS OUTSTANDING SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND DRILLING
Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. has released outstanding drilling results on its high-grade Bongara zinc
joint venture project in Peru. Included in these results are underground
drill holes V-240 which intersected 26.85 metres grading 13.45 per cent zinc plus lead
and V-244 which intersected 32.1 metres grading 11.4 per cent zinc plus lead,
and surface drill holes V-234 which intersected 5.9 metres grading 24.1 per cent zinc plus lead and drill hole V-235 which intersected 7.2 metres grading 14.9 per cent zinc plus lead. Significant silver values were also encountered in these holes.
Exploration drilling
The 2011 program was managed and entirely financed by Solitario's joint
venture partner, Votorantim Metais. The Bongara project
hosts the high-grade Florida Canyon zinc deposit where zinc
mineralization has been intersected over a four-square-kilometre area.
The deposit is open to expansion in all directions. During the fourth
quarter of 2011, Votorantim added two underground core rigs and another
surface core rig, bringing the total rig count to four.
Solitario has received assay results from 18 surface holes and five
underground drill holes, with assays from many additional holes pending.
Fourteen of the 18 holes intersected strong mineralized intervals.
Surface drilling reported in this release is focused on the
Karen-Milagros zone located in the northern part of the Florida Canyon
mineralized system. All underground drilling is being conducted in the
San Jorge zone situated in the southwestern part of Florida Canyon. All
underground drill holes reported in this release were fan drilled from
underground drill station No. 4.
Chris Herald, president and chief executive officer of Solitario, commented: "The Bongara
project has advanced to a new and exciting stage with the onset of
detailed underground drilling, augmenting the continuation of surface
exploration. Drilling results continue to come in strong, adding both new
resources and increasing the confidence level of existing resources.
Votorantim will be advancing the project through prefeasibility by the
end of 2012, including additional surface and underground drilling."
The 12 best intercepts from the first 23 holes drilled in 2011 are shown in the attached table.
Drill hole Intercept* Zinc Lead Zinc plus lead Silver
No. (m) (%) (%) (%) (g/t)
V-223 (S) 3.8 9.92 1.94 11.86 15.06
V-224 (S) 6.2 7.60 0.18 7.78 5.40
V-225 (S) 6.7 6.51 0.20 6.71 4.00
V-227 (S) 7.7 6.27 0.53 6.80 7.37
6.0 12.58 2.85 15.43 22.18
V-234 (S) 5.9 18.21 5.89 24.10 40.42
V-235 (S) 7.2 10.84 4.06 14.90 34.35
V-238 (S) 4.3 8.08 1.30 9.38 16.17
4.7 7.06 0.56 7.62 3.74
V-240 (U) 26.85 13.20 0.25 13.45 16.39
V-241 (U) 3.30 13.31 1.17 14.48 40.52
V-244 (U) 32.10 9.64 1.76 11.40 18.80
* True thickness has not been estimated for each individual intercept,
but in most cases represents at least 75 per cent of true thickness.
(S) refers to surface drill hole.
(U) refers to underground drill hole.
A complete listing of recent assay results are appended at the end of this news release and
simplified drill hole maps can be accessed at the Solitario website. Additional project information can also be found at the Solitario website.
The drill hole information contained within this release is reported
under a quality control program reviewed by Walt Hunt, chief operating officer for
Solitario, who is a qualified person as
defined by National Instrument 43-101. Samples are derived from 50-per-cent
splits of HQ and NQ (2.5-inch and 1.9-inch) diameter core. Samples are then
shipped via secured third party land and air transportation companies,
and analyzed by ALS Chemex Inc. in North Vancouver, Canada, an ISO 9002-registered company.
Road construction and underground tunnelling
In addition to surface and underground core drilling, Votorantim has now
completed 15 kilometres of road construction and is targeting an
additional five kilometres of construction during the next several months.
During 2011, Votorantim also completed 590 metres of underground
tunnelling and development of eight underground drill stations to conduct
detailed drilling of a portion of the San Jorge zone. Approximately
14,500 metres of drilling are planned from these drill stations over the
next several months. To date, about 6,000 metres of underground drilling
has been completed. Assay results for much of this drilling are pending.
Bongara agreement with Votorantim Metais
Votorantim Metais can earn up to a 70-per-cent interest in the project by
committing to place the project into production based upon a positive
feasibility study. After earning 70 per cent, Votorantim Metais has further
agreed to finance Solitario's 30-per-cent participating interest for
construction. Solitario will repay the loan facility through its cash
flow distributions.
About Votorantim Metais
Votorantim Metais belongs to 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 29 per cent of
revenues from production of zinc, nickel, steel and aluminum. Votorantim
Metais is the world's fifth-largest primary zinc producer with three
operating zinc smelters and two operating zinc mines. It owns the
Cajamarquilla zinc smelter and is the majority shareholder of Milpo,
both located in Peru. Votorantim Metais also has operations in the
United States and China.
BONGARA 2011 SURFACE DRILLING RESULTS
Hole No. From To Interval Mineralization (assay results)
(m) (m) (m)
V-223 244.60 248.40 3.80 9.92% Zn, 1.94% Pb, 15.06 g/t Ag
V-224 139.10 145.30 6.20 7.60% Zn, 0.18% Pb, 5.40 g/t Ag
242.50 248.70 6.20 4.64% Zn, 2.43% Pb, 13.83 g/t Ag
294.90 297.90 3.00 6.84% Zn, 0.06% Pb, 1.70 g/t Ag
V-225 251.80 252.50 0.70 4.21% Zn, 1.08% Pb, 5.30 g/t Ag
264.50 271.20 6.70 6.51% Zn, 0.20% Pb, 4.00 g/t Ag
292.50 297.50 5.00 2.54% Zn, 3.10% Pb, 2.48 g/t Ag
V-226 Trace mineralization
V-227 286.00 293.70 7.70 6.27% Zn, 0.53% Pb, 7.37 g/t Ag
296.70 297.40 0.70 5.72% Zn, 0.04% Pb, 1.00 g/t Ag
301.70 307.70 6.00 12.58% Zn, 2.85% Pb, 22.18 g/t Ag
V-228 272.60 273.80 1.20 3.50% Zn, 0,76% Pb, 4.486 g/t Ag
V-229 290.00 291.60 1.60 0.83% Zn, 0.90% Pb, 3.38 g/t Ag
V-230 Hole aborted due to cave
V-231 Hole aborted due to cave
V-232 347.60 349.30 1.70 7.43% Zn, 0.09% Pb, 2.62 g/t Ag
353.70 355.40 2.30 3.30% Zn, 0.28% Pb, 1.93 g/t Ag
V-233 357.40 359.40 2.00 1.95% Zn, 0.49% Pb, 3.23 g/t Ag
353.70 392.10 0.70 6.71% Zn, 0.11% Pb, 1.40 g/t Ag
V-234 350.50 356.30 5.90 18.21% Zn, 5.89% Pb, 40.42 g/t Ag
370.20 373.00 2.80 6.57% Zn, 1.58% Pb, 10.37 g/t Ag
V-235 337.20 339.90 2.70 10.91% Zn, 1.62% Pb, 9.56 g/t Ag
361.20 364.90 3.70 3.23% Zn, 0.05% Pb, 1.08 g/t Ag
369.50 376.70 7.20 10.84% Zn, 4.06% Pb, 34.35 g/t Ag
V-236 370.10 370.80 0.70 9.73% Zn, 0.70% Pb, 4.70 g/t Ag
374.30 377.80 3.50 8.09% Zn, 0.07% Pb, 1.97 g/t Ag
V-237 382.60 385.30 2.70 10.55% Zn, 0.38% Pb, 5.16 g/t Ag
V-238 88.50 92.80 4.30 8.08% Zn, 1.30% Pb, 16.17 g/t Ag
229.90 232.60 2.70 1.41% Zn, 1.07% Pb, 7.69 g/t Ag
369.10 373.80 4.70 7.06% Zn, 0.56% Pb, 3.74 g/t Ag
V-239 356.50 357.50 1.00 1.82% Zn, 0.06% Pb, 0.33 g/t Ag
365.50 366.50 1.00 5.28% Zn, 0.23% Pb, 0.95 g/t Ag
V-247 378.10 382.10 4.00 3.85% Zn, 0.32% Pb, 2.40 g/t Ag
BONGARA 2011 UNDERGROUND DRILLING RESULTS
Hole No. From To Interval Mineralization (assay results)
(m) (m) (m)
V-240 60.00 86.85 26.85 13.20% Zn, 0.25% Pb, 16.39 g/t Ag
(Drill station 4)
V-241 58.60 61.90 3.30 13.31% Zn, 1.17% Pb, 40.52 g/t Ag
(Drill station 4) 71.40 72.90 1.50 38.99% Zn, 0.01% Pb, 113.00 g/t Ag
76.60 76.90 0.30 12.05% Zn, 0.00% Pb, 30.20 g/t Ag
V-242 55.20 55.70 0.50 25.30% Zn, 6.29% Pb, 57.50 g/t Ag
(Drill station 4)
V-243 Trace mineralization
(Drill station 4)
V-244 71.00 103.1 31.10 9.64% Zn, 1.76% Pb, 18.80 g/t Ag
(Drill station 4) 105.30 107.1 1.80 2.28% Zn, 0.28% Pb, 4.84 g/t Ag
We seek Safe Harbor.
© 2026 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.