Solaris Commences 2024 Drilling Program at Warintza Project

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solaris Resources Inc. (TSX: SLS; OTCQB: SLSSF) (“Solaris” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce a corporate update including the commencement of the 2024 drilling program at its Warintza Project (“Warintza” or “the Project”) in southeastern Ecuador.

Warintza 2024 Drilling Program Underway

The 2024 drilling program has commenced with the first rig turning at Warintza East and a total of six rigs planned to be in operation by the end of February. An updated mineral resource estimate is expected in late Q2/24 to take in nearly double the meterage of the prior estimate and deliver major growth at Warintza Central, East and the recent discovery of Warintza Southeast within a common pit shell.

Drilling will continue through the updated mineral resource estimate with a focus on opportunities for further growth and infill drilling of at least 30km, taking advantage of additional permitted platform locations to optimize the drilling pattern, with some of these holes doubling as metallurgical and geotechnical and hydrogeological holes for mine design purposes.

Regional Exploration Underway

Field programs are underway to define drill targets at prospective areas identified in the regional exploration program (refer to press release dated January 8, 2024). This includes further detailed sampling at the Mateo prospect where a 3km x 1.4km arc of copper-molybdenum enrichment in soil samples is expressed around the margin of an overlapping sandstone unit that may cover a blind porphyry.

Financing Update

The Company has closed US$40 million (C$54 million) in funding including US$10 million (C$14 million) in equity financing and the drawdown of the first US$30 million (C$40 million) of the senior secured debt facility as part of the previously announced US$80 million offtake financing package (refer to press release dated December 11, 2023). This financing package funds the baseline programs for 2024 and 2025.

Upon closing the C$130 million strategic investment by an affiliate of Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd. (refer to press release dated January 11, 2024), the Company plans to aggressively expand its 2024 and 2025 programs to bring ten rigs into operation, and significantly scale up its regional exploration programs, including land consolidation, and commencing infrastructure and site development for fast-tracking the Project, with details to follow.