Solitario's 2026 Ponderosa Drilling Program Well Advanced

Solitario Resources announced that its 2026 Ponderosa drilling program is well advanced on its 100%-owned Golden Crest gold project in South Dakota. Drilling began in the second half of May. Four core holes have now been completed, all in the Ponderosa area. Core samples from the first two holes have been shipped to the assay lab and samples from the second two holes are being prepared for shipment. Initial assay results are expected in early August. Preparations for the first ever drilling at Solitario's 100%-owned Cat Creek critical metals project are nearly complete. Cat Creek is situated in south-central Colorado within the world-class Climax-Henderson-Questa molybdenum porphyry belt. Climax is the largest primary molybdenum deposit in the world, Henderson is third largest, and Questa is considered the eighth largest deposit. The Cat project was originally discovered by Anaconda Copper in the early 1980's. Anaconda conducted significant surface exploration, including detailed geologic mapping, geochemical sampling and an Induced Polarization geophysical survey. The project was slated for drilling in mid-1983, but due to the sale of Anaconda by its parent, Atlantic Richfield, all company-wide exploration activities were shut down in early 1983. The property was never drill tested and no further exploration activities were subsequently conducted on the property. Molybdenum is one of the most valuable industrial metals and rhenium is classified as a Critical Metal by the U.S. Geological Survey. Both are extensively used in the defense and aerospace industries for their unique properties as a steel additive imparting extremely high melting temperature, hardness and remarkable resistance to wear and corrosion. Molybdenum currently sells for approximately $40.00 per pound and rhenium prices are approximately $4.20 per gram. Chris Herald, President and CEO, stated: "With drilling now well advanced at the Ponderosa area of Golden Crest, and the soon to be initiated drilling at Cat Creek, we are excited that Solitario now has two active drilling programs and look forward to reporting our progress and results. Additionally, we continue to advance the drilling permit for our recently acquired Bright Angel copper-gold project in north-central Colorado. All three of our active 100% owned properties are situated in the United States where domestic policies favor nationally sourced critical metals."