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Employee Stock Compensation Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Employee Stock Compensation Plans

10. Employee Stock Compensation Plans:

a.) The 2006 Plan

On June 27, 2006, Solitario's shareholders approved the 2006 Stock Option Incentive Plan (the "2006 Plan"). Under the terms of the 2006 Plan, the Board of Directors reserved a total of 2,800,000 shares of Solitario common stock for the potential awards to Directors, officers and employees with exercise prices equal to the market price of Solitario's common stock at the date of grant. Solitario classifies its stock options under the 2006 Plan as equity options in accordance with the provisions of ASC 718, “Compensation – Stock Compensation.”

b.) 2006 Plan stock option compensation

Solitario’s outstanding options from the 2006 Plan on the date of grant have a five-year term, and vest 25% on date of grant and 25% on each of the next three anniversary dates. Solitario recognizes stock option compensation expense on the date of grant for 25% of the grant date fair value, and subsequently, based upon a straight line amortization of the unvested grant date fair value of each of its outstanding options. The following table shows the grant date fair value of Solitario’s only option grant during either 2015 or 2014 from the 2006 Plan as of the date of grant.

Grant date fair value

Grant Date	8/15/14
Option – grant date price (Cdn$)	$1.60
Options granted	1,990,000
Expected life years	5.0
Expected volatility	66%
Risk free interest rate	1.6%
Weighted average fair value	$0.81
Grant date fair value	$1,618,000

Solitario recorded $396,000 and $591,000, respectively, of stock option expense from the 2006 Plan during 2015 and 2014 included in general and administrative expense, for the amortization of grant date fair value with a credit to additional paid-in capital.

c.) 2006 Plan stock option activity

During 2015 and 2014 there were no shares issued from the exercise of options. The following table summarizes the activity for stock options outstanding under the 2006 Plan as of December 31, 2015 and 2014:

	2015			2014
		Weighted			Weighted
		Average	Aggregate		Average	Aggregate
		Exercise	Intrinsic		Exercise	Intrinsic
	Options	Price (Cdn$)	Value(1)	Options	Price (Cdn)$	Value(1)
2006 Plan
Outstanding, beginning of year	2,348,000	$1.66		2,419,000	$2.22
Granted	-	-		1,990,000	1.60
Exercised	-	-		-	-
Cancelled/expired (2)(3)	(2,188,000)	1.66		(2,061,000)	2.31
Forfeited	(120,000)	1.60		-	-
Outstanding, end of year	40,000	$1.60	$ -	2,348,000	$1.66	$ -
Exercisable, end of year	20,000	$1.60	$ -	814,250	$1.78	$ -

(1)The intrinsic value at December 31, 2015 and 2014 based upon the quoted market price of Cdn $0.70 and Cdn$1.05, respectively, per share for our common stock on the TSX and an exchange ratio of 0.72120 and 0.85993, respectively, United States dollars per Canadian dollar.

(2)On November 24, 2015, holders of option awards from the 2006 Plan voluntarily cancelled awards for 160,000 options with an option price of Cdn$1.49 with an expiration date of December 16, 2017 and 1,830,000 options with and option price of Cdn$1.60 with and expiration date of August 14, 2019 to allow Solitario to have additional financial flexibility. No consideration was given or received by the holders of the options to cancel the awards.

(3)On January 28, 2014, holders of option awards from the 2006 Plan voluntarily cancelled awards for 1,797,000 options with an option price of Cdn$2.40 with an expiration date of May 5, 2015 to allow Solitario to have additional financial flexibility. No consideration was given or received by the holders of the options to cancel the awards.

d.) The 2013 Plan

On June 18, 2013 Solitario’s shareholders approved the 2013 Solitario Exploration and Royalty Corp. Omnibus Stock and Incentive Plan (the “2013 Plan”). Under the terms of the 2013 Plan, a total of 1,750,000 shares of Solitario common stock are reserved for awards to Directors, officers, employees and consultants. Such awards may take the form of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, and restricted stock units. The terms and conditions of the awards are pursuant to the 2013 Plan and are granted by the Board of Directors or a committee appointed by the Board of Directors. Solitario classifies its awards from the 2013 Plan as equity awards under the provisions of ASC 718, “Compensation – Stock Compensation.”

e.) Stock option compensation

Solitario made no grants of options during 2015 or 2014 from the 2013 Plan. Grants from the 2013 Plan have a five-year term, and vest 25% on date of grant and 25% on each of the next three anniversary dates. Solitario recognizes stock option compensation expense on the date of grant for 25% of the grant date fair value, and subsequently, based upon a straight-line amortization of the unvested grant date fair value of each of its outstanding options.

Solitario recorded $170,000 and $188,000 of stock option expense from the 2013 Plan during 2015 and 2014, respectively, included in general and administrative expense, for the amortization of grant date fair value with a credit to additional paid-in capital.

f.) Stock option activity

During 2015 and 2014 no options granted from the 2013 Plan were exercised. During 2014 Solitario issued restricted stock units (“RSUs”) from the 2014 Plan for a total of 50,562 shares that vested upon grant and were issued as shares to two employees as part of their severance pay upon the employees’ termination from Solitario. Solitario recorded a credit to additional paid-in-capital of $45,000 on the date of issuance of the shares from the 2013 Plan. The following table summarizes the activity for stock options and RSUs outstanding under the 2013 Plan as of December 31, 2015 and 2014:

	2015			2014
		Weighted			Weighted
		Average	Aggregate		Average	Aggregate
	RSUs/	Exercise	Intrinsic		Exercise	Intrinsic
	Options	Price	Value(1)	Options	Price	Value(1)
2013 Plan
Outstanding, beginning of year	1,400,000	$0.96		1,400,000	$0.96
Granted	-	-		50,562	0.89
Exercised	-	-		(50,562)	0.89
Cancelled (2)	(1,250,000)	0.94		-	-
Forfeited	(150,000)	1.10		-	-
Outstanding, end of year	-	-	$ -	1,400,000	$0.96	$ -
Exercisable, end of year	-	-	$ -	700,000	$0.96	$ -

(1)The intrinsic value at December 31, 2015 and 2014 based upon the quoted market price of $0.49 per share and $0.92 per share, respectively, for our common stock on the NYSE-MKT.

(2)On November 24, 2015, holders of option awards from the 2006 Plan voluntarily cancelled awards for 1,250,000 options with an option price of $0.94 with an expiration date of October 21, 2018 to allow Solitario to have additional financial flexibility. No consideration was given or received by the holders of the options to cancel the awards.