Solitario Resources Secures Drilling Permits For Its Cat Creek Project In Colorado

Solitario Resources Corp. ("Solitario" or the "Company") (NYSE American:XPL)(TSX:SLR) is pleased to announce that it has secured drilling permits for its Cat Creek critical metals project in Colorado. The Cat Creek project represents a high-quality undrilled molybdenum-rhenium porphyry system.

The Cat Creek project was originally discovered by Anaconda Copper (formerly one of the largest mining companies in the world) in the early 1980's. Anaconda conducted significant surface exploration, including detailed geologic mapping, geochemical sampling and an Induced Polarization ("IP") geophysical survey. The project was slated for drilling in mid-1983, but due to the sale of Anaconda by its parent, Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), 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. Anaconda's project database was never publicly released.

Solitario signed a lease to acquire a 100%-interest in the property in 2023 and has conducted confirmatory surface exploration. Both Federal and State permitting has been completed allowing for core drilling to begin mid-summer 2026.

Molybdenum ("Mo"), besides being considered a strategic metal, is one of the most valuable industrial metals. It currently sells for approximately $25.00 per pound. Molybdenum's unique alloying properties for steelmaking - high-strength, hardness, heat resistance, corrosion protection and lubrication, make it indispensable to multiple industries such as oil and gas, aerospace, multiple defense applications, nuclear energy and the construction and automotive industries.

Rhenium ("Re") has recently been classified as a Critical Metal by the U.S government. It is used extensively in the defense and aerospace industries because of its extremely high melting temperature, hardness and remarkable resistance to wear and corrosion. Some of its more critical uses are in jet/rocket engines, gas turbines for the power industry, and in advanced weapon systems. It is an extremely rare metal in nature and currently sells for about $4,200 per kilogram ($4.20 per gram), roughly 2.5 times the value of silver.

Chris Herald, President and CEO of Solitario, stated: "Although the Golden Crest gold project has been, and remains, our primary focus, we have been quietly advancing the Cat Creek project for the past two years and are excited to able to drill test this large-scale drill target next year. With the current interest in domestic Critical and Strategic Metals in the U.S., Cat Creek is an important new addition to our property portfolio.

Colorado is home to two of the three largest primary molybdenum mines in the world, Freeport-McMoran's operating Climax and Henderson mines. Cat Creek is situated less than 150 miles south of these two mines, and 80 miles north of the historically important Questa molybdenum mine (currently closed). Together, these three mines define a prolific molybdenum corridor with Cat Creek being in the middle of this important trend."