Mineral Properties	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2012
Notes to Financial Statements
Mineral Properties	7. Mineral properties Mt. Hamilton Feasibility Study On February 22, 2012, Solitario announced the completion of the Feasibility Study on its Mt. Hamilton project prepared by SRK. As a result of the completion of the Feasibility Study, Solitario earned an 80% interest in MH-LLC, and intends to develop the Mt. Hamilton project, subject to a number of factors including obtaining necessary permits and availability of required capital, none of which is currently in place. MH-Agreement The MH Agreement provides that if Solitario completes a bankable feasibility study and earns an 80% interest in MH-LLC, as of that date, Solitario will be obligated to make any unpaid payments of cash and stock to DHI-US, and any unpaid payments to the underlying royalty holder by the due dates prescribed in the MH Agreement, or will be subject to dilution of its interest in MH-LLC. If Solitario fails to make the remaining earn-in payments of $150,000 in cash and 25,000 shares of Solitario stock due DHI-US in August 2012, it will lose its entire interest in MH-LLC. If Solitario fails to make any of the remaining required payments due after 2012, Solitario will be diluted from its current 80% ownership interest, to a 49% interest in MH-LLC and DHI-US will increase its ownership interest to 51%. Furthermore, the MH Agreement provides that all costs for development at Mt. Hamilton after completion of the Feasibility Study will be shared by Solitario and DHI-US pro-rata. However DHI-US has notified Solitario that it has exercised its option of having Solitario contribute DHI-US’ share of costs through commercial completion as a loan, with such loan, plus interest at 8%, being repaid to Solitario from 80% of DHI-US’s share of distributions from MH-LLC. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 Solitario loaned DHI-US $77,000 and $127,000 for its share of costs subsequent to the completion of the Feasibility Study. During the three months ended June 30, 2012, Solitario and DHI-US agreed to modify the terms (the “Amendment”) of the MH Agreement whereby certain continuing payment obligations of Solitario pursuant to the MH Agreement totaling $5,000,000 to buy down the production royalty payable to Centennial Minerals Company LLC (“CMC”) will now be payable on or prior to the date of commencement of commercial production. Previously, the MH Agreement obligated Solitario to make the continuing payment obligations to CMC of $3,500,000 on or before November 13, 2012 and $1,500,000 on or before November 13, 2014. During the three months ended June 30, 2012, MH-LLC distributed $2.5million to its members in proportion to their interests. Solitario received $2 million from this distribution. In addition Solitario received $500,000 from DHI-US to repay a portion of its loan to Solitario, and Solitario agreed to forgive $35,000 of accrued interest due from DHI-US, which represented the accrued interest on loans made to DHI-US in connection with the MH Agreement through June 30, 2012. Solitario recorded a debit to interest income of $35,000 for the interest forgiven during the three months ended June 30, 2012. Sandstorm royalty sale In June 2012, Solitario completed the sale of a 2.4% NSR on its Mt. Hamilton project to Sandstorm for $10 million. MH-LLC received an upfront payment of US$6 million upon signing the agreement and will receive US$4 million on January 15, 2013, which Solitario has recorded as a current asset as of June 30, 2012. The receivable does not bear interest and Solitario has not recorded any discount or allowance, given the short duration of the receivable and Solitario’s evaluation of the high likelihood of payment by Sandstorm. In determining the fair value of the Sandstorm receivable, Solitario has classified the receivable from Sandstorm as a Level 3 asset, in as much as there were no observable independent inputs to determine the fair value. Solitario recorded a deferred gain on the sale of the Sandstorm royalty of $7,000,000 during the three months ended June 30, 2012. This deferred gain is shown as a long-term liability in the condensed consolidated balance sheet at June 30, 2012. In determining the gain on sale of the Sandstorm royalty, Solitario determined the basis in the property sold primarily based upon the purchase of a 2% royalty on the same property in May of 2011 for consideration of $2,500,000. In addition Solitario reviewed the relative fair values of the royalty sold to the assets retained, and applied that percentage to our existing capitalized costs at Mt. Hamilton. Solitario considers the basis of $3,000,000 for the royalty sold reasonable based upon this analysis. The Sandstorm royalty agreement provides that in the event Sandstorm does not receive $10 million in royalty proceeds by December 31, 2022, MH-LLC will make up any shortfall. As a result of this guarantee, Solitario believes it is appropriate to defer the gain on sale, until such time as the potential funding obligation under the guarantee is reduced or eliminated. As part of the agreement, MH-LLC will have the option, for a period of 30 months from the date of the agreement to repurchase up to 100% of the NSR for US$12 million, provided that MH-LLC enters into a gold stream agreement with Sandstorm that has an upfront deposit of greater than US$30 million. In addition, MH-LLC has provided Sandstorm with a right of first refusal on any future royalty or gold stream financing for the Mt. Hamilton project. Pursuant to the agreement, Solitario is jointly and severally liable for all obligations of MH-LLC to Sandstorm. Capitalized development costs Solitario began capitalizing its development costs incurred at its Mt. Hamilton project subsequent to the completion of the Feasibility Study. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2012, Solitario capitalized $549,000 and $769,000 of development costs at the Mt. Hamilton project. In addition, during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012, Solitario capitalized $160,000 and $275,000 of lease payments related to Mt. Hamilton. See also Note 12, “Ely Gold investment and the Mt. Hamilton joint venture” to the consolidated financial statements included in Solitario’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Mineral Properties

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

7. Mineral properties

Mt. Hamilton

Feasibility Study

On February 22, 2012, Solitario announced the completion of the Feasibility Study on its Mt. Hamilton project prepared by SRK. As a result of the completion of the Feasibility Study, Solitario earned an 80% interest in MH-LLC, and intends to develop the Mt. Hamilton project, subject to a number of factors including obtaining necessary permits and availability of required capital, none of which is currently in place.

MH-Agreement

The MH Agreement provides that if Solitario completes a bankable feasibility study and earns an 80% interest in MH-LLC, as of that date, Solitario will be obligated to make any unpaid payments of cash and stock to DHI-US, and any unpaid payments to the underlying royalty holder by the due dates prescribed in the MH Agreement, or will be subject to dilution of its interest in MH-LLC. If Solitario fails to make the remaining earn-in payments of $150,000 in cash and 25,000 shares of Solitario stock due DHI-US in August 2012, it will lose its entire interest in MH-LLC. If Solitario fails to make any of the remaining required payments due after 2012, Solitario will be diluted from its current 80% ownership interest, to a 49% interest in MH-LLC and DHI-US will increase its ownership interest to 51%. Furthermore, the MH Agreement provides that all costs for development at Mt. Hamilton after completion of the Feasibility Study will be shared by Solitario and DHI-US pro-rata. However DHI-US has notified Solitario that it has exercised its option of having Solitario contribute DHI-US’ share of costs through commercial completion as a loan, with such loan, plus interest at 8%, being repaid to Solitario from 80% of DHI-US’s share of distributions from MH-LLC. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 Solitario loaned DHI-US $77,000 and $127,000 for its share of costs subsequent to the completion of the Feasibility Study.

During the three months ended June 30, 2012, Solitario and DHI-US agreed to modify the terms (the “Amendment”) of the MH Agreement whereby certain continuing payment obligations of Solitario pursuant to the MH Agreement totaling $5,000,000 to buy down the production royalty payable to Centennial Minerals Company LLC (“CMC”) will now be payable on or prior to the date of commencement of commercial production. Previously, the MH Agreement obligated Solitario to make the continuing payment obligations to CMC of $3,500,000 on or before November 13, 2012 and $1,500,000 on or before November 13, 2014.

During the three months ended June 30, 2012, MH-LLC distributed $2.5million to its members in proportion to their interests. Solitario received $2 million from this distribution. In addition Solitario received $500,000 from DHI-US to repay a portion of its loan to Solitario, and Solitario agreed to forgive $35,000 of accrued interest due from DHI-US, which represented the accrued interest on loans made to DHI-US in connection with the MH Agreement through June 30, 2012. Solitario recorded a debit to interest income of $35,000 for the interest forgiven during the three months ended June 30, 2012.

Sandstorm royalty sale

In June 2012, Solitario completed the sale of a 2.4% NSR on its Mt. Hamilton project to Sandstorm for $10 million. MH-LLC received an upfront payment of US$6 million upon signing the agreement and will receive US$4 million on January 15, 2013, which Solitario has recorded as a current asset as of June 30, 2012. The receivable does not bear interest and Solitario has not recorded any discount or allowance, given the short duration of the receivable and Solitario’s evaluation of the high likelihood of payment by Sandstorm. In determining the fair value of the Sandstorm receivable, Solitario has classified the receivable from Sandstorm as a Level 3 asset, in as much as there were no observable independent inputs to determine the fair value. Solitario recorded a deferred gain on the sale of the Sandstorm royalty of $7,000,000 during the three months ended June 30, 2012. This deferred gain is shown as a long-term liability in the condensed consolidated balance sheet at June 30, 2012. In determining the gain on sale of the Sandstorm royalty, Solitario determined the basis in the property sold primarily based upon the purchase of a 2% royalty on the same property in May of 2011 for consideration of $2,500,000. In addition Solitario reviewed the relative fair values of the royalty sold to the assets retained, and applied that percentage to our existing capitalized costs at Mt. Hamilton. Solitario considers the basis of $3,000,000 for the royalty sold reasonable based upon this analysis. The Sandstorm royalty agreement provides that in the event Sandstorm does not receive $10 million in royalty proceeds by December 31, 2022, MH-LLC will make up any shortfall. As a result of this guarantee, Solitario believes it is appropriate to defer the gain on sale, until such time as the potential funding obligation under the guarantee is reduced or eliminated.

As part of the agreement, MH-LLC will have the option, for a period of 30 months from the date of the agreement to repurchase up to 100% of the NSR for US$12 million, provided that MH-LLC enters into a gold stream agreement with Sandstorm that has an upfront deposit of greater than US$30 million. In addition, MH-LLC has provided Sandstorm with a right of first refusal on any future royalty or gold stream financing for the Mt. Hamilton project. Pursuant to the agreement, Solitario is jointly and severally liable for all obligations of MH-LLC to Sandstorm.

Capitalized development costs

Solitario began capitalizing its development costs incurred at its Mt. Hamilton project subsequent to the completion of the Feasibility Study. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2012, Solitario capitalized $549,000 and $769,000 of development costs at the Mt. Hamilton project. In addition, during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012, Solitario capitalized $160,000 and $275,000 of lease payments related to Mt. Hamilton.

See also Note 12, “Ely Gold investment and the Mt. Hamilton joint venture” to the consolidated financial statements included in Solitario’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.