DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. (“Solitario;” NYSE MKT: XPL; TSX: SLR) is pleased to announce that it has engaged SRK Consulting to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) on its Bongará high-grade zinc deposit in northern Peru. Completion of the PEA is expected in the second-quarter 2017.
SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc. (“SRK”) is an independent and internationally recognized mining engineering firm with offices in both Peru and the United States, among other international locations. A total of 486 core holes (117,280 meters) have been drilled on the project. Work to date has demonstrated that Bongará is a high-grade zinc deposit with an average resource grade in excess of 12% zinc equivalent, has a relatively large resource base with excellent expansion potential, and produces a clean high-grade zinc sulfide concentrate. SRK previously prepared a NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources for the Bongará Project in 2014.
Chris Herald, President and CEO of Solitario, stated, “We are delighted that once again we will be working with SRK to develop a high quality technical report that will provide Solitario and our shareholders a preliminary analysis of the project’s economic potential. SRK has a solid reputation for producing realistic economic evaluations that define and recommend additional work required for prefeasibility and feasibility level analysis. We are excited about Bongará’s economic potential and look forward to the completion of this report.”
This release has been reviewed for accuracy by Walter Hunt, Chief Operating Officer of Solitario, a “qualified person” as that term is defined in NI 43-101.
Terms of the Bongará Joint Venture
Currently, Solitario owns 39% of the Bongará project and Peruvian mining company Minera Milpo (“Milpo”) owns 61%. Since inception of the Bongará joint venture in 2006, the Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim and its subsidiary, Milpo, have funded 100% of project expenditures. Milpo can earn a 70% interest in the project by continuing to fund all project expenditures (except this PEA which is funded by Solitario and does not alter any of the terms of the joint venture) and committing to place the project into production based upon a positive feasibility study. After earning 70%, at the request of Solitario, Milpo has further agreed to finance Solitario's 30% participating interest for construction. Solitario will repay the loan facility through 50% of its net cash flow distributions.
About Solitario
Solitario is an exploration and royalty company traded on the NYSE MKT (“XPL”) and on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“SLR”). Solitario has a joint venture with Milpo on its high-grade Bongará zinc project in Peru and a 9.97% equity interest in Vendetta Mining. Solitario’s Management and Directors hold approximately 7.6% (excluding options) of the Company’s 38.7 million shares outstanding. Solitario’s cash balance and marketable securities at end of the third quarter of 2016 was approximately US$16 million. Additional information about Solitario is available online at www.solitarioxr.com
