Solitario Announces High-Grade Drilling Results on Its Pachuca Real Silver-Gold Project

Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. ('Solitario;? NYSE Amex: XPL;
TSX: SLR) announces that significant high-grade silver-gold
mineralization was intersected in drilling on its Pachuca Real property
in central Mexico. Highlights include drill hole PAN11-28 that
intersected 1.05 meters grading 16.4 gpt gold and 239 gpt silver,
PAN11-27 with 0.60 meters grading 5.6 gpt gold and 837 gpt silver, and
PAN11-31 with 0.85 meters grading 8.4 gpt gold and 283 gpt silver.

The 2011 drilling program was managed and entirely funded by Solitario′s
joint venture partner, Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A.
('Buenaventura;? NYSE: BVN; Lima: BUE.LM). Buenaventura
has informed Solitario that it has elected not to fund the second year
$2.3 million program and will forfeit its right to earn an interest in
the property.

Buenaventura recently completed a 38-hole core drilling program totaling
13,489 meters on the project. Click
here to view results. Twenty of the holes intersected at least one
interval grading in excess of 100 grams per tonne silver equivalent (see
attached chart). The target at Pachuca consists of high-grade
silver-gold mineralization in veins. Most of the holes were widely
spaced on 17 separate vein prospects scattered over an area measuring
nearly 14 kilometers in an east-west direction and 8 kilometers in a
north-south direction.

The ten best drill hole intercepts are presented in the table below.

*Silver Equivalent:1.0 g/gold = 50 g/silver; true widths of
veins have not been estimated

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.

Solitario's 100%-owned Pachuca Real project encompasses approximately
31,300 hectares of mineral rights in and around the famed Pachuca
silver-gold mining district. Historic production from the Pachuca
district totals approximately 1.4 billion ounces of silver and over 7.0
million ounces of gold, making it one of the largest historic
silver-gold districts in the world. Veins in the historic district were
very continuous over long distances along strike and down dip, and
generally averaged 1.0 to 5.0 meters in thickness. A map of the project
area can be viewed on Solitario's website here.

Chris Herald, President and CEO of Solitario, stated, 'We are very
encouraged with the results of the 2011 drilling program, where holes on
at least eleven of seventeen veins tested in 2011 intersected
significant silver-gold mineralization. For a grassroots drilling
program, we consider this to be an outstanding success rate for
intersecting mineralization and we wish to compliment Buenaventura′s
exploration team for executing such an outstanding effort. The history
of the prolific Pachuca district demonstrates that a mineralized vein,
no matter how narrow, can develop into a significant mineralized
high-grade vein structure as it is followed along strike or down dip.
Over the next several months, we will evaluate these results and develop
a plan with an eye towards following-up the more significant drill-hole
intercepts to test for the widening of the mineralized structures.?

Exploration History

The Pachuca Real land package encompasses parts of the old Pachuca
district, but more importantly, covers the most prospective extensions
of the district to the north, northwest, and east. Prior to Solitario′s
acquisition of the mineral rights, the entire land package had been held
by the Mexican government from 1947 to 1990, and then sold to a private
Mexican company. Only a limited amount of exploration was conducted
prior to Solitario acquiring its land position in 2006. Subsequent work
identified 38 high-quality drill targets consisting of high-grade
silver-gold veins that are distributed over a geographic area measuring
20 kilometers long and ten kilometers wide.

About Solitario

Solitario is currently moving its advanced Mt. Hamilton Gold project in
eastern Nevada through feasibility, which is expected by late January or
early February, 2012. Solitario is a gold, silver, platinum-palladium,
and base metal exploration and royalty company actively exploring in
Brazil, Mexico, and Peru. Solitario has significant business
relationships with Votorantim Metais on its high-grade Bongará zinc
project in Peru and Anglo Platinum on its Pedra Branca
platinum-palladium project in Brazil. 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

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. This release also contains information about adjacent
properties on which Solitario has no right to explore or mine. We advise
U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit
information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors
are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not
indicative of mineral deposits on our properties.

Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp.

Debbie Mino-Austin, (800)
229-6827

Director ? Investor Relations

or

Christopher E.
Herald, (303) 534-1030

President & CEO