Solitario Clarifies Technical Disclosures
17 April 2014 - 11:13PM
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 of Solitario’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.
Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp.Christopher E. Herald,
(303) 534-1030President & CEOorDebbie Mino-Austin, (800)
229-6827Director – Investor Relations
Solitario Resources (TSX:SLR)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Dez 2024 bis Jan 2025
Solitario Resources (TSX:SLR)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jan 2024 bis Jan 2025