Solitaire Finalizes the Purchase of the Riou Lake Center Property in the Athabasca Basin

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

March 29, 2005: Solitaire Minerals Corp. (the Company) is pleased to announce that the finalized purchase agreement for the Riou Lake Center property from Bullion Fund Inc. has been submitted for TSX approval. Solitaire Minerals Corp. will own a 90% interest in 1,200 hectares (approximately 2,965 acres) of prospective uranium claims located south of Riou Lake in northern Saskatchewan bringing its total landholdings in the Athabasca basin to 33,140 acres.

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 Center claims which total 2,965 acres 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 UEX fault. The escarpment is displaced 180 feet above the surface and extends for 8 kms above surface. This scarp is unique in the Athabasca 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 surveys carried out over the Riou Lake Center property in 1996 indicate that the magnetic responses are deep and largely 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).

In 1999, a prospecting program by Pioneer Metals Corporation discovered an area of several radioactive springs located on the UEX Riou Lake Program. One particular spring of note is located in close proximity to Solitaire Minerals Riou Lake property. Subsequent drilling of this spring by UEX produced drill hole RLG-D20 and drill hole RLG-D15 and led to some promising results. The drilling took place over an unconformity where highly anomalous values of uranium where found. UEX has a planned drilling program set for 2005 of six drill holes totaling 4,800 meters which will be carried out in two work areas, including the radioactive springs area.

The Company plans to contract for a new-generation, deep-penetrating, airborne electromagnetic (MegaTEM) survey, which will provide blanket coverage for the entire Riou Lake property. The survey, which is being flown by Fugro Airborne Surveys of Ottawa, Ont., is designed to map conductors beyond the coverage provided by the existing ground electromagnetic surveys. A magnetometer survey, flown as part of the MegaTEM survey package, will also greatly improve the resolution of the magnetic coverage on the project. The MegaTEM and magnetic data will aid in selecting areas for further ground geophysics follow-up. We are looking forward to having this program flown in the upcoming weeks. As a result of this new technology we have pushed back our ground work and anticipated drilling until after the results of the Mega TEM.

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).

Solitaire will be evaluating other potential uranium prospects within and outside the Athabasca Basin in the following months.

Mr. Jim Kermeen, M.Sc., P.Eng, will be the Qualified Person on our Riou Lake properties.

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 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. The Company has also acquired the Riou Lake North and South properties in which the company has 100% interest.

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.