Solitario announces drilling results from Golden Crest Project

Solitario (XPL) Resources announced new drilling results on its Golden Crest Project. Two distinctly different styles and ages of gold mineralization were encountered in drill hole GC-010. The lower interval in GC-010 intersected 11.55 grams per tonne gold over 0.52 meters. This high-grade interval represents paleo-placer gold mineralization positioned between older Precambrian and younger Paleozoic-aged rock formations. The importance of this newly discovered style of gold mineralization is that it supports the existence of Homestake-style Precambrian-aged mineralization in the vicinity of this intercept. The second mineralized interval in GC-010 occurred several meters above the paleo-placer interval. It graded 2.45 g/t gold over 0.43 meters and consisted of rock flour diatreme breccia that is not pyritized or silicified. The gold grade is thought to be carried by small, pulverized matrix fragments from the Precambrian basement that were forcefully injected into the Lower Deadwood Formation. This also suggests the potential for significant basement-hosted mineralization nearby within our claim block. Precambrian Homestake Banded Iron Formation was intersected in both GC-009 and GC-010. This is the only area outside of the immediate Homestake district that Homestake BIF has been identified. The Homestake BIF hosts the entire 68-million-ounce gold endowment of the Homestake mine situated about 15 kilometers east of these drill holes. Chris Herald, CEO, stated: “We always thought that we would intersect a variety of styles of Tertiary-aged mineralization at Golden Crest, but the paleo-placer intercept was a big surprise. We believe the only way this high-grade paleo-placer could have formed was the existence of a Homestake-style Precambrian deposit situated relatively near GC-010 during Cambrian times that was eroded and formed this paleo-placer gold deposit. This opens up a whole new mega-gold target at Golden Crest, but perhaps more importantly, it gives us a tool to vector in on a Homestake target. In the historic Homestake district, moderate to high-grade gold mineralization spread out over approximately ten square kilometers in a laterally distributed alluvial fan. The grade and thickness of gold mineralization increased the closer you were to the actual Precambrian deposit, which was the origin for the gold in this type of deposit.”