Solitaire Announces commencement of work on Crowsnest Property and sale of interest in Headway property

Friday, October 24, 2003

October 24, 2003 Solitaire Minerals Corp. (the "Company") has received notice from Commerce Resources Corp. that an exploration program will be commencing shortly on the Aubyrd, Comm and Commerce Gold Projects (the "Crowsnest Projects") located approximately 60 km southeast of the town of Fernie, in southeastern British Columbia.

The Crowsnest Projects encompass 124 claim units, or approximately 31 square kilometers in two separate claim locations. The claims are subject to a joint venture agreement between Commerce Resources Corp., and Lalo Ventures Ltd., whereby Lalo can earn up to a 50% interest in the Crowsnest Projects by making share payments to Commerce and incurring property expenditures over a 3 year period. Solitaire retains a carried 10% interest in the properties, by having paid to Commerce Resources Corp. 75,000 common shares of Solitaire Minerals. In the event that Lalo does not fulfill their obligations or withdraws from the joint venture agreement, Solitaire retains the right to back in to the agreement to earn up to 50% in the properties.

The Aubyrd Claims are immediately south of the Eastfield Resources - Goldrea Resources joint venture "Crowsnest Property", where exploration has uncovered grab samples as high as 630 g/ton of gold.

The Comm and Commerce Claims, located approximately 5 kms east of the Aubyrd Claims, has seen previous reconnaissance type exploration returning sample values in excess of 34 g/ton of gold.

In addition to this, Solitaire wishes to announce that they have received, and accepted, an offer from Palomino Mining & Exploration Ltd. ("Palomino"), a private corporation, to purchase the entire interest in the Headway Property, located at Red Lake, Ontario, from Solitaire.

Terms of the offer include cash payments to Solitaire totaling $90,000.00, and the release of Solitaire from any claims with respect to either the property, or Kings Bay Gold Corporation ("Kings Bay").

As a part of the offer to purchase, Solitaire has received approval from Kings Bay to sell the interest held by Solitaire, and has also received confirmation from Kings Bay that there is presently no material information that has not been disclosed to Solitaire.

As shareholders of Solitaire are aware, the option agreement on the Headway property has been the subject of a dispute for some months now. Management of Solitaire arrived at the decision to accept the offer from Palomino after reviewing all the tangible and intangible circumstances surrounding the joint venture with Kings Bay. Among the considerations, management of Solitaire have reviewed the results of the latest drill program on the Headway (see August 27th, 2003 news release), and have considered the future prospects for Solitaires interest in the Headway property.

"For a number of months now, the dispute over the Headway agreement has clouded the investment atmosphere surrounding Solitaire's excellent 100% owned properties in the Red Lake region" according to Solitaire President, Charles Desjardins. "Although it was a tough decision to part with the Headway property, we feel that the opportunities now available to us to commence work on our other properties, in particular the Baird, will allow the company to move forward with a clearer vision for the future."

Management of Solitaire have earmarked a portion of the funds from this sale to commence an exploratory work program on the company's 100% owned Baird property, in order to define drill targets. It is anticipated that this work program will commence shortly. The Baird property lies immediately south of the Madsen property, which is the subject of a joint venture between Placer Dome and Claude Resources. Recent results issued by Claude Resources (see News Release issued by Claude September 5, 2003) indicate that a substantial amount of drilling is ongoing on the Madsen property, and has produced some promising results within close proximity to the Solitaire boundary.

About Solitaire Minerals Corp.
Solitaire Minerals Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company with a specific focus on prospective gold properties in North America. The Company has assembled a portfolio of precious metal exploration prospects in Ontario and British Columbia. Solitaire's Ontario properties in the prolific Red Lake/Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt include the South Baird, Golden Pickle, and Chukuni River Prospects, which are held 100% by Solitaire. Each of these properties exhibits excellent potential for hosting high-grade gold deposits and is located within the world class Red Lake, Ontario area.

For additional information you can contact Solitaire Minerals Corp. at 604-683-5445 or visit the Web site at http://www.solitaireminerals.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors
SOLITAIRE MINERALS CORP.

"Charles Desjardins"

Charles Desjardins
President and Director

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.