Ecuador court gives green light for Silvercorp, Salazar’s El Domo project
The ruling removes the last major obstacle for the $250 million project, located 150 km northeast of Guayaquil.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – Nov. 16, 2011) – Solitaire Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SLT) (Solitaire) is pleased to announce that the company has signed an option to acquire a 100% interest in a Platinum-Group Element (PGE) property north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Previous exploration has located 14 mineral occurrences on the property with analytical results up to 2.2 grams per tonne of total precious metals (“TPM”) or platinum + palladium + gold. A diamond drilling program is planned to test five conductors defined by a 2010 airborne VTEM® survey.
The Roaring River property consists of seven mining claims totaling 87 claim units (3,439 acres), 144 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The property covers a 7 kilometre by 3 kilometre oval-shaped mafic to ultramafic intrusion comprising gabbro to melagabbro with pyroxenite inclusions. Mineralization was first discovered in 2000 by following up a lake-sediment geochemical survey, part of the Ontario government’s Lake Nipigon Geoscience Initiative (LNGI) program. A cluster of lake sediments with anomalous values in copper, nickel, platinum, palladium and gold coincided with the northern part of the mafic to ultramafic intrusion.
Prospecting on the Roaring River property by previous operators has located fourteen separate occurrences of disseminated sulphides. Analyses gave from 21 to 675 parts per billion (ppb) platinum (Pt), 20 to 1485 ppb palladium (Pd), 18 to 2104 ppb gold (Au), 11 to 2649 parts per million (ppm) copper (Cu) and 31 to 2119 ppm nickel (Ni). TPM (Pt + Pd + Au) values range from 83 to 2173 ppb (or 2.173 g/t). All known sulphide occurrences on the property are in or intimately associated with large xenoliths or inclusions of melagabbro or pegmatitic gabbro or pyroxenite. The coarse xenolithic occurrences are reminiscent of mineralized zones at the Lac des Iles palladium mine of North American Palladium Ltd., 60 kilometres to the south.
A 5-hole diamond drilling program by a previous operator in 2004, focused on IP chargeability anomalies, which all turned out to be caused by disseminated magnetite in a diabase sill, and hence did not locate any sulphide mineralization. In 2010, another previous operator carried out an airborne VTEM® survey with a view to locating massive or semi-massive sulphides. Interpretation of the VTEM® results by Condor Consulting Inc. defined five separate conductors, and these conductors will be the primary targets of a diamond drilling program by Solitaire, which is planned to commence immediately.
The option agreement between Solitaire Minerals Corp. and Mike Magrum, Colin Bowdidge and Balbina Dabrowski as optionors, calls for a cash payment of $25,000 on signing and 750,000 shares on exchange approval, $60,000 and 1,000,000 shares after one year and $75,000 and 1,500,000 shares after two years. Work requirements are $400,000 before December 31st, 2011, $600,000 before December 31st, 2013 and $750,000 before December 31st, 2014. The optionors will retain a 2% net smelter returns royalty, of which 1% may be repurchased for $1,000,000.
Technical information in this news release has been written and/or reviewed by Colin Bowdidge, Ph.D., P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101. Analyses quoted in this news release were all of grab samples and do not represent the average grade of the zone or zones from which they were taken. Analyses were reported in public-domain documents; sampling methods and analytical protocols are not known.
About Solitaire Minerals Corp.
Solitaire Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SLT) is a diversified Junior Canadian Mineral Exploration Company with a focus on precious and base metal properties in North America.
For additional information please contact Solitaire Minerals Corp. or visit www.solitaireminerals.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
SOLITAIRE MINERALS CORP.
Charles Desjardins, President and Director
Cautionary note:
This report contains forward looking statements. Resource estimates, unless specifically noted, are considered speculative. Any and all other resource or reserve estimates are historical in nature, and should not be relied upon. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on factors that will or may occur in the future. Actual results may vary depending upon exploration activities, industry production, commodity demand and pricing, currency exchange rates, and, but not limited to, general economic factors. Cautionary Note to US investors: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission specifically prohibits the use of certain terms, such as “reserves” unless such figures are based upon actual production or formation tests and can be shown to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
