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| Solitario Confirms Continuity of High-Grade Mineralization on Its Pedra Branca PGM-Project
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 9, 2003--Solitario Resources Corporation today announced that drilling on its Pedra Branca platinum-palladium ("PGM") project in northeastern Brazil confirmed continuity of high-grade mineralization on its Esbarro and Curiu prospects. Remarkably, 22 of the 25 holes drilled during this phase of exploration intersected significant mineralization at shallow open-pitable depths. Highlighting this set of reported drill holes is ES-15 which intersected 26.9 meters grading 4.05 grams per tonne ("gpt") PGM + gold and CU-08 which intersected 5.2 meters grading 10.56 gpt PGM + gold. BizVantage – A Net clipping service that learns what you need: for business, investment or technology. This latest round of drilling was designed to test the continuity of mineralization of the Esbarro prospect on 50-meter spaced drill hole centers and the Curiu deposit, located three kilometers to the northeast, on 25-meter spaced centers. Significant PGM-mineralization has been intersected in drilling on eight other targets that have received very limited drilling to date. Table I provides a complete listing of assay results for the 22 mineralized drill holes. With this latest round of drilling, Solitario and its joint venture partner, Anglo American Platinum Corporation Limited ("Anglo Platinum"), have completed Anglo Platinum's initial US$500,000 work commitment consisting of 57 core holes totaling 4,000 meters of drilling. Anglo Platinum is currently evaluating the results of the first six-month program to decide whether or not it will proceed with the US$500,000 Phase II exploration program. Anglo Platinum can earn a 51% interest in Pedra Branca by spending a total of US$7.0 million exploration and development over a four-year period. Anglo Platinum can earn a further 14% interest (to a total 65% interest) by completing a bankable feasibility study and arranging 100% project financing. Chris Herald, President and CEO of Solitario, stated, "This infill drilling program exceeded our expectations concerning the continuity of mineralization at both the Esbarro and Curiu deposits. Based on these results, we are optimistic that other prospects with known mineralization may also exhibit good continuity with detailed drill testing. In addition, Anglo Platinum is currently performing preliminary metallurgical testing of drill core." Solitario is a platinum-palladium, gold and base metal exploration company actively exploring in Peru and Brazil. Solitario is 41.2%-owned by Crown Resources Corporation (OTCBB: CRCE) and is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: SLR). Table I: Pedra Branca Drill Hole Assay Results
Hole From To Interval Pt Pd PGM
Number meters meters Meters feet g/t g/t (+gold)
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ES-15 0.0 11.0 11.0 36.1 0.22 0.83 1.16
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30.4 57.3 26.9 88.1 1.27 2.75 4.05
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including 42.0 55.8 13.8 45.3 1.48 3.71 5.22
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ES-16 42.0 47.0 5.0 16.4 0.43 1.42 1.86
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ES-17 0.0 18.0 18.0 59.0 0.43 0.61 1.06
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38.5 53.5 15.0 49.2 0.53 1.52 2.09
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including 38.5 46.0 7.5 24.4 0.80 2.30 3.31
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ES-18 3.8 40.2 36.4 119.4 0.73 1.60 2.36
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including 3.8 12.8 9.0 29.5 1.86 3.78 5.69
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including 25.7 34.6 2.6 8.4 0.92 3.18 4.17
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ES-21 0.9 12.8 11.9 39.0 0.39 1.21 1.82
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28.9 32.7 3.8 12.5 0.42 0.45 0.87
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ES-22 0.0 6.8 6.8 22.3 0.43 0.88 1.33
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ES-23 21.4 60.5 39.1 128.2 0.54 1.14 1.70
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including 22.2 38.4 16.2 53.1 0.63 1.49 2.12
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ES-24 15.0 16.9 1.9 6.2 0.26 0.79 1.16
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65.3 67.6 2.3 7.5 0.54 1.04 1.58
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ES-25 31.0 34.4 3.4 11.2 0.97 0.46 1.43
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ES-26 29.5 32.4 2.9 9.5 1.06 1.40 2.46
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44.1 45.9 1.8 5.9 0.73 0.87 1.60
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ES-27 0.0 2.9 2.9 9.5 3.02 3.87 6.90
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10.0 23.6 13.6 44.6 0.47 0.72 1.20
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40.4 47.4 7.0 23.0 0.56 1.68 2.27
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ES-28 35.8 42.35 6.6 21.4 0.50 0.75 1.29
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ES-29 0.0 2.00 2.0 6.6 0.34 0.67 1.03
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ES-30 4.3 8.8 4.5 14.8 0.46 0.75 1.23
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12.3 20.3 8.0 26.2 0.49 0.85 1.37
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25.8 32.8 7.0 23.0 0.50 1.28 1.80
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48.0 51.0 3.0 9.8 1.48 1.08 2.56
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ES-31 0.0 8.2 8.2 26.9 0.58 1.00 1.58
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35.1 48.3 13.2 43.3 0.85 1.39 2.26
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including 41.2 48.3 7.1 23.3 1.33 1.70 3.05
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ES-32 39.9 50.2 10.3 33.6 1.45 2.11 3.56
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including 39.9 41.6 1.7 5.6 5.63 7.38 13.03
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CU-08 17.8 38.4 20.6 67.6 1.35 1.95 3.38
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including 17.8 28.0 10.2 33.5 2.45 3.43 5.98
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including 21.3 26.5 5.2 17.0 4.08 6.30 10.56
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CU-09 32.4 46.5 14.1 46.2 0.63 1.03 1.70
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including 32.4 35.8 3.4 11.2 1.41 2.32 3.78
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CU-10 30.2 49.0 18.8 61.7 0.64 1.01 1.69
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including 30.2 33.2 3.0 9.8 1.94 2.96 5.02
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64.9 70.2 5.3 17.4 0.94 2.14 3.16
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CU-11 14.2 25.9 11.7 38.4 0.72 1.63 2.38
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37.6 39.6 2.0 6.56 0.81 2.49 3.36
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CU-12 22.3 45.8 23.5 77.1 1.16 2.13 3.35
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including 22.3 32 9.7 31.8 2.17 3.65 5.92
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62.8 65.3 2.5 8.2 1.02 2.44 3.56
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CU-13 5.8 26.8 21.0 68.8 1.02 1.68 2.76
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including 5.8 12.8 7.0 23.0 2.36 4.20 6.74
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