Solitario announces drilling results from Golden Crest Project

Solitario (XPL) Resources announced its “most compelling drilling results to date” on its Golden Crest Project. Significant gold mineralization was intersected over a substantial thickness in the lower Deadwood rock formation in drill hole GC-008. The entire lower Deadwood formation was mineralized with an average gold grade of approximately 1.0 gram per tonne over its entire 41.0-meter length. Importantly, gold grades were increasing with depth, with the last two meters of core averaging 3.4 gpt, the highest grades encountered before the hole was terminated due to technical drilling difficulties. The lower Deadwood formation hosts the majority of Tertiary gold mineralization in the historic Homestake-Wharf gold district situated several miles east of Solitario’s land position. GC-008 represents the first mineralization ever discovered in Lower Deadwood outside of the historic district. Chris Herald, CEO, stated: “I cannot overstate the importance of these assay results. GC-008 represents a new Wharf-style discovery and is our most significant gold intercept to date. GC-008 was our first drill hole to test a major structural zone that has been traced on Solitario’s property position well over 12 kilometers in length and approximately 500 meters wide. This exceptionally large structural/stratigraphic zone appears to be a very fertile mega-target that only has one drill hole and is open ended in all directions, including depth. This structural zone is suspected to have deep roots and is believed to be an important conduit to Tertiary-aged gold mineralization. GC-008 was designed to test this zone at the most receptive stratigraphic horizon – the lower Deadwood Formation. The historic Wharf district has an estimated total gold endowment of over 10 million ounces. Approximately half of this endowment occurred as high-grade mineralization, often over an ounce per tonne, and the other half was lower grade averaging about a gram per tonne. The lower grade mineralization formed a large halo around the higher-grade structures. We believe this intercept represents the lower-grade halo surrounding potentially high-grade structures.”