Solaris Resources Inc. announced a major advancement in its district-scale growth strategy. Ecuador's state-owned mining company, Empresa Nacional Minera ENAMI EP ("ENAMI EP"), has granted Solaris an option to acquire up to a 100% interest in a new portfolio of highly prospective exploration areas ("Solaris 2") located immediately adjacent to the Company's world-class Warintza Project ("Warintza") in southeastern Ecuador. This strategic award meaningfully expands Solaris' footprint around Warintza by approximately 40,000 hectares, further consolidating its presence over one of the most compelling emerging copper districts globally.
The newly optioned areas capture extensions of key geological trends continuous with Warintza, unlocking additional potential exploration upside and reinforcing the Company's long-term vision of developing a future world-class copper mining hub. Solaris continues to prioritize greenfield activities across the broader Warintza district, underpinned by the highly prospective geological potential of both its wholly owned and optioned properties. Within the Solaris 1 optioned areas, three high-priority target areas have been identified: Tinki Northwest, Tinki North and Tinki South.
Over the past 16 months, the Company has completed 11 field prospecting expeditions, collecting more than 1,500 rock and soil samples, with efforts primarily focused on the Tinki South area. Initial geochemical results have identified strong copper anomalies hosted within volcanic sequences affected by widespread potassic alteration, indicative of shallow, potentially high-grade copper mineralization that warrants detailed follow-up. At Tinki South, a systematic soil sampling programme was completed on a 100-metre grid, defining two significant copper anomalies: The western anomaly so far measures approximately 1,000 metres by 300 metres, with soil copper values ranging from 200 to 800 ppm and rock samples returning 0.11% to 8.38% Cu.
The eastern anomaly so far extends approximately 2,000 metres by 600 metres, with soil copper values range from 250 to 1,045 ppm and rock samples returning 0.,10% to 0.99% Cu. Surface outcrops in both areas are partially leached, and higher and more consistent copper grades are anticipated at depth, further enhancing the exploration potential. The Solaris 1 areas are located within the Shuar community of Tinkimints, which continues to provide constructive support for prospecting activities conducted under an established prospecting agreement.
Solaris is working collaboratively with relevant ministerial authorities to advance permitting in an orderly and responsible manner, ensuring exploration programmes proceed in compliance with Ecuadorian regulations and international best practices. The award of the Solaris 2 areas follows a process established by ENAMI EP pursuant to which credentialed bidders submit nonbinding proposals for proposed minimum investments on the new areas. The award is subject to entry into a definitive framework agreement for the new areas, with the terms expected to include: (i) an upfront payment to ENAMI EP of USD 0.25 million; (ii) a proposed minimum exploration programme of USD 25 million over the 4 year exploration phase; (iii) up to USD 1.75 million subject to the achievement of certain milestones and (iv) the exclusive option to acquire the claims from ENAMI EP at a price to be determined by independent experts.
The award follows the same commercial structure as the Solaris 1 earn in arrangement. Together with the Company's wholly owned Warintza property and the Solaris 1 and Solaris 2 optioned areas, Solaris is advancing a cohesive, district-scale development strategy. This consolidated land position enables planning beyond a single deposit toward a multi-asset growth trajectory, leveraging shared infrastructure, coordinated environmental and social management, and phased development across an integrated copper district.
While Warintza remains the Company's flagship and most advanced project, the surrounding areas provide meaningful optionality and long-term value creation potential.
