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Mineral Property

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

2. Mineral Property

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

(in thousands)	March 31,	December 31,
	2015	2014
Development (United States)
Mt. Hamilton	$14,968	$14,641
Exploration
La Promesa (Peru)	5	5
Norcan (Mexico)	6	6
Aconchi (Mexico)	5	5
Canta Colorado (Peru)	3	3
Total exploration	19	19
Total mineral property	$14,987	$14,660

Mt. Hamilton

On February 22, 2012, Solitario earned an 80% interest in MH-LLC as a result of the completion of a feasibility study on the Mt. Hamilton project (the “Feasibility Study”) prepared by SRK Consulting (US), Inc. of Lakewood, Colorado (“SRK”). In October 2014, SRK, on behalf of Solitario completed an updated feasibility study on the Mt. Hamilton project (the “Updated Feasibility Study”).

Solitario intends to monetize its interest in the Mt. Hamilton project, either through the sale of all or part of its interest in the project or through development of the project. Development of the project is subject to a number of factors including obtaining all 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 March 31,
	2015	2014
Development expenditures	$156	$ 485
Capitalized interest	169	153
Capitalized depreciation	2	8
Total capitalized costs	$ 327	$ 646

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

Discontinued projects

Solitario did not record any mineral property write-downs during the three months ended March 31, 2015 or 2014.

Exploration expense

The following items comprised exploration expense:

(in thousands)	Three months ended March 31,
	2015	2014
Geologic and field expenses	$18	$26
Administrative	7	22
Total exploration costs	$ 25	$ 48

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Includes, but is not limited to, accounting policies and methodology, roll forwards, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, including composite depreciation, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, useful lives and method used, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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