Solitario Purchases NSR Royalty On Prospective Properties In Montana

DENVER - Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. has purchased a 1.5% Net Smelter Return (“NSR”) royalty on 15,831 acres of highly prospective mineral properties in Montana. The royalties were purchased from Atna Resources Inc. as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction process.

In 2012, Atna evaluated the mineral potential on approximately 830,000 acres of mineral rights that it held in western Montana to create a portfolio of NSR royalty properties. 

Atna’s criteria for creating royalty properties from this vast mineral holding were the presence of surface mineralization, historical mining and favorable geology defined by exploration programs conducted by Anaconda Copper, Phelps Dodge and several other companies. Atna identified 11 properties with the highest mineral potential and created a 1.5% NSR royalty on these parcels. With this purchase, Solitario now owns the royalty on these 11 properties.

Chris Herald, President and CEO of Solitario stated: “This acquisition is a building block to the royalty segment of our company. What is unique about these royalties are that they pertain to private deeded property and are thus perpetually titled. We were very pleased that our $2.50 per acre bid won the royalty rights on these 15,831 acres. The purchase price is the only investment we will ever have to make to retain these royalties in perpetuity. Voluminous technical information suggests excellent potential for Cu, Cu-Au, Cu-Ag and polymetallic mineralization on these properties that is consistent with the largest mineral deposits located in western Montana.”