Solitario Reports Outstanding Surface and Underground Drilling

Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. (NYSE Amex: XPL; TSX: SLR)
announced outstanding drilling results on its high-grade Bongará zinc
joint venture project in Peru. Included in these results are underground
drill holes V-240 that intersected 26.85 meters grading 13.45% zinc+lead
('Zn+Pb?) and V-244 that intersected 32.1 meters grading 11.4% Zn+Pb;
and surface drill holes V-234 that intersected 5.9 meters grading 24.1%
Zn+Pb and drill hole V-235 that intersected 7.2 meters grading 14.9%
Zn+Pb. Significant silver values were also encountered in these holes.

Exploration Drilling

The 2011 program was managed and entirely funded by Solitario's joint
venture partner Votorantim Metais ('Votorantim?). The Bongará project
hosts the high-grade Florida Canyon zinc deposit where zinc
mineralization has been intersected over a four square kilometer area.
The deposit is open to expansion in all directions. During the fourth
quarter of 2011, Votorantim added two underground core rigs and another
surface core rig bringing the total rig count to four.

Solitario has received assay results from 18 surface holes and 5
underground drill holes, with assays from many additional holes pending.
Fourteen of the 18 holes intersected strong mineralized intervals.
Surface drilling reported in this release is focused on the
Karen-Milagros zone located in the northern part of the Florida Canyon
mineralized system. All underground drilling is being conducted in the
San Jorge zone situated in the southwestern part of Florida Canyon. All
underground drill holes reported in this release were fan-drilled from
underground drill station #4.

Chris Herald, President and CEO of Solitario commented, 'The Bongará
project has advanced to a new and exciting stage with the onset of
detailed underground drilling, augmenting the continuation of surface
exploration. Drilling results continue to come in strong adding both new
resources and increasing the confidence level of existing resources.
Votorantim will be advancing the project through pre-feasibility by the
end of 2012, including additional surface and underground drilling.'

The twelve best intercepts from the first 23 holes drilled in 2011 are:

* True thickness has not been estimated for each individual
intercept, but inmost cases represents at least 75% of true
thickness.(S) = surface drill hole; (U) = underground drill hole

A complete listing of recent assay results are appended below and
simplified drill hole maps can be accessed at http://www.solitarioxr.com/art/2011Bong.pdf.
Additional project information is found at http://www.solitarioxr.com/bongara.html.

The drill hole information contained within this release is reported
under a quality control program reviewed by Mr. Walt Hunt, COO for
Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp., who is a qualified person as
defined by National Instrument 43-101. Samples are derived from 50%
splits of HQ and NQ (2.5 and 1.9 inch) diameter core. Samples are then
shipped via secured third-party land and air transportation companies
and analyzed by ALS Chemex Inc., North Vancouver, Canada, an ISO9002
registered company.

Road Construction & Underground Tunneling

In addition to surface and underground core drilling, Votorantim has now
completed 15 kilometers of road construction and is targeting an
additional 5 kilometers of construction during the next several months.
During 2011, Votorantim also completed 590 meters of underground
tunneling and development of eight underground drill stations to conduct
detailed drilling of a portion of the San Jorge zone. Approximately
14,500 meters of drilling are planned from these drill stations over the
next several months. To date, about 6,000 meters of underground drilling
has been completed. Assay results for much of this drilling are pending.

Bongará Agreement with Votorantim Metais

Votorantim Metais can earn up to a 70% interest in the project by
committing to place the project into production based upon a positive
feasibility study. After earning 70%, Votorantim Metais has further
agreed to finance Solitario's 30% participating interest for
construction. Solitario will repay the loan facility through its cash
flow distributions.

About Solitario

Solitario announced (August 26, 2009) a joint venture arrangement with
Ely Gold & Minerals on Ely′s advanced Mt. Hamilton Gold project in
eastern Nevada. Solitario is currently moving the project through
feasibility, which is expected by the end of January, 2012. Solitario is
a gold, silver, platinum-palladium, and base metal exploration and
royalty company actively exploring in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru. Besides
Votorantim, Solitario has significant business relationships with Minera
Buenaventura, Newmont Mining and Anglo Platinum. Solitario is traded on
the NYSE Amex ('XPL') and on the Toronto Stock Exchange ('SLR').
Additional information about Solitario is available online at www.solitarioxr.com

About Votorantim Metais

Votorantim Metais belongs to a privately held Brazilian business
conglomerate that is a leader in every market segment in which it
operates, including cement, pulp and paper, metals, chemicals, orange
juice, and finance. The metals business division accounted for 29% of
revenues from production of zinc, nickel, steel and aluminum. Votorantim
Metais is the world's fifth largest primary zinc producer with three
operating zinc smelters and two operating zinc mines. It owns the
Cajamarquilla zinc smelter and is the majority shareholder of Milpo,
both located in Peru. Votorantim Metais also has operations in the
United States and China.

This press release includes certain 'Forward-Looking Statements'
within the meaning of section 21E of the United States Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements
of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation,
statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration
results and future plans and objectives of Solitario, are
forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate
and actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Development ofSolitario′s
properties are subject to the success of exploration, completion and
implementation of an economically viable mining plan, obtaining the
necessary permits and approvals from various regulatory authorities,
compliance with operating parameters established by such authorities and
political riskssuch as higher tax and royalty rates, foreign
ownership controls and our ability to finance in countries that may
become politically unstable. Important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from Solitario′s expectations are disclosed
under the heading 'Risk Factors' and elsewhere in Solitario′s documents
filed from time to time with Canadian Securities Commissions, the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory
authorities.

For Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp.

Debbie Mino-Austin,
800-229-6827

Director ? Investor Relations

Christopher E.
Herald, 303-534-1030

President & CEO