Solitario Completes Phase-One Drilling at Golden Crest - Reports Initial Drill Results for Ponderosa
Solitario reports low-grade intercepts at Golden Crest that fail to deliver the high-grade targets previously anticipated for the project.
Solitario Resources Corp. announced initial assay results from the first three core holes drilled at its Golden Crest gold project in South Dakota. The intersections returned low-level gold mineralization ranging from 0.02 to 0.40 g/t across multiple intervals in Paleozoic limestones. No high-grade feeder zones were identified in the initial three holes.
Phase-One drilling at Golden Crest is complete with 10 core holes totaling 2,949 meters. Assays for the remaining seven holes are expected in late September or October. Additionally, drone magnetic surveys identified a large magnetic high on the western margin associated with the Homestake banded iron formation, opening new target areas.
Drilling has commenced at the 100%-owned Cat Creek molybdenum-rhenium project in Colorado, with the first hole completed and the second underway. Assays are not expected for at least two months. QA/QC protocols were followed with ALS Global, including fire assay with atomic absorption finish and gravimetric finish for grades >10 g/t.
Solitario Resources Corp. (SLR) reported initial drill results that fell short of the high-grade expectations established by previous surface grab samples and management commentary regarding multi-gram gold anomalies. The low-grade intercepts, ranging from 0.02 to 0.40 g/t, do not materially advance resource definition at this stage and delay the timeline for potential economic evaluation.
There is no immediate financial impact, though the exploration burn rate continues. Magnetic survey and Cat Creek drilling provide incremental exploration upside, but these are long-dated catalysts that do not offset the immediate disappointment at Golden Crest.
Solitario Resources Corp. is an exploration-stage company focused on high-quality Tier 1 gold, copper, zinc, and critical metals assets across the United States and Peru. Its flagship project is the Golden Crest gold project in South Dakota, which spans 31,500 acres and is located along the western and southwestern extensions of the Homestake-Wharf mining district, an area that produced approximately 52 million ounces of gold.
The company also holds other assets, including the Cat Creek Mo-Re porphyry project in Colorado, the Bright Angel Cu-Au porphyry project in Colorado, the Florida Canyon Zn-Pb-Ag project in Peru as a joint venture with Nexa, and the Lik Zn project in Alaska as a joint venture with Teck Resources. The company is currently in the advanced exploration and greenfield discovery phase with no revenue-generating operations.