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Mineral Property

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

2. Mineral Property

The following table details Solitario’s investment in Mineral Property:

(in thousands)	September 30,	December 31,
	2014	2013
Development (United States)
Mt. Hamilton	$14,025	$12,059
Exploration
Pachuca (Mexico)	-	20
Norcan (Mexico)	6	6
Aconchi (Mexico)	5	5
Canta Colorado (Mexico)	3	3
La Promesa (Peru)	5	5
Total exploration	19	39
Total mineral property	$14,044	$12,098

Mt. Hamilton

On February 22, 2012, Solitario announced the completion of a feasibility study related to its Mt. Hamilton project (the “Feasibility Study”) prepared by SRK Consulting (US), Inc. of Lakewood, Colorado (“SRK”). As a result of the completion of the Feasibility Study, Solitario earned an 80% interest in Mt. Hamilton LLC (“MH-LLC”), owner of the Mt. Hamilton project, 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.

Capitalized costs

Solitario began capitalizing its development costs incurred at its Mt. Hamilton project subsequent to the completion of the Feasibility Study, as detailed in the following table:

(in thousands)	Three months ended September 30,		Nine months ended September 30,
	2014	2013	2014	2013
Development expenditures	$ 543	$ 601	$ 1,383	$ 1,369
Capitalized interest	161	184	463	557
Property payments	-	75	100	175
Capitalized depreciation	4	7	20	23
Total capitalized costs	$ 708	$ 867	$ 1,966	$ 2,124

Initial property and lease payments on our exploration properties are capitalized to mineral property. All exploration costs on our exploration properties, none of which have proven and probable reserves, including exploration activities related to our projects and any additional costs incurred for subsequent lease payments or are expensed as incurred.

Discontinued projects

Solitario recorded $20,000 of mineral property write-downs during the nine months ended September 30, 2014 related to its Pachuca silver property in Mexico. During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, Solitario recorded $13,000 of mineral property write-downs related to its Cerro Azul project in Peru and its Atico and Jaripo projects in Mexico.

Exploration expense

The following items comprised exploration expense:

(in thousands)	Three months ended September 30		Nine months ended September 30,
	2014	2013	2014	2013
Geologic and field expenses	$38	$28	$176	$521
Administrative	20	48	66	253
Total exploration costs	$58	$ 76	$242	$ 774