Solitario adds critical metals project to property portfolio

Solitario (XPL) Resources 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 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. 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, 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 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.