Solitaire enters Purchase Agreement on Riou Lake Property in Athabasca basin

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

October 26, 2004: Solitaire Minerals Corp. (the Company) is pleased to announce it has entered into a Purchase Agreement with an undisclosed Vendor to acquire a 90% interest in 1,200 hectares (approximately 2,965 acres) of prospective uranium claims located south of Riou Lake in northern Saskatchewan.

Terms of the agreement call for the Company to pay the Vendor $20,000 in cash and 350,000 common shares upon approval of a formal agreement and a subsequent $25,000 in cash and 300,000 common shares on the 1st year anniversary date. There is also an underlying 2% NSR on the property.

The Riou Lake Property consists of four claims covering 1,200 hectares (approximately 2,965 acres) located in the Athabasca basin in northern Saskatchewan. The four claims were staked in 1993 and are adjacent to the Riou Lake Uranium project operated by UEX Corp. and west of JNR Resources Black Lake property claims. In 1996 Pioneer Metals (now UEX) staked around the claims looking for nickel. In 2001 UEX was formed with a 40% Cameco (world's largest uranium producer) ownership. Please view map at http://www.solitaireminerals.com/gold/IR/downloads.asp

The claims which total 1,200 hectares encompass the western extension of the Riou Lake fault system. This part of the fault was the first staked claim in the area because of the surface expression of the fault. The escarpment is displaced 180 feet above the surface and extends for 8 kms above surface. This scarp is unique in the Athabascca basin even though it is known from work on uranium deposits that there are other faults within the sandstone likely the result of continued activity on faults within the basement.

The regional gravity survey shows a gravity low coinciding with the scarp. This gravity low may indicate an alteration zone within the sandstone and possibly also the basement. The airborne magnetic and VLF-EM survey carried out over the property in 1996 indicate that the magnetic responses are deep and largerly due to responses from metamorphic rocks. The VLF survey shows a weak response coincident with the east-southeasterly trending scarp in the sandstone (Newson, N.R., 1997).

There is potential with drilling of a possible unconformity type uranium deposit or deposits on this Riou Lake property.

The Athabasca basin hosts several major uranium deposits including Cigar Lake and McArthur River, two of the highest-grade uranium deposits in the world. It is the most productive uranium producing region globally, accounting for approximately one third of the world's supply in 2003 (Cameco 2003).

The Purchase Agreement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

About Solitaire Minerals Corp. Solitaire Minerals Corp. is a diversified junior Canadian mineral exploration company with a specific focus on mineral properties in North America. The Company has assembled a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration prospects in Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Solitaire's Ontario properties in the Red Lake/Birch-Uchi Greenstone Belt include the Baird, Heyson and Chukuni River Prospects, in which the Company has agreements to earn 100% in, but has not yet vested its interest. In addition, the Company has entered into an option agreement with another company, whereby that company may earn up to a 50% interest in the Baird Property. In British Columbia, the Company has an agreement to earn 100% interest in the Union Mine Property, but has not yet vested its interest. In Saskatchewan, the Company has signed a purchase agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Highrock Lake property and a 90% interest in the Riou Lake Property located in the Athabasca Basin.

For additional information you can contact Solitaire Minerals Corp. or visit 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. Statements in this press release other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company's business, including risks inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.