SLD

Solid Gold Resources Corp. ("Solid Gold") (TSX VENTURE:SLD)

Mission: Regional Gold Exploration at Lake Abitibi, Ontario, Canada

"Certainty of title and access to Crown land is paramount to our industry, but
only the Crown can provide the certainty required to secure major investment to
develop projects like the potential new gold camp at Lake Abitibi, Ontario",
states Darryl Stretch, President of Solid Gold. "No obstacle should stand in the
way because, like the Ring of Fire, the Solid Gold project may be a
once-in-a-century economic opportunity to the benefit of all Canadians."


The Government of Ontario (the "Crown") distributed a draft set of guidelines
for its Ministries to properly consult and accommodate aboriginals where
required.


A rising gold price, an unequivocal ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada
(Haida) confirming that third parties have no duty to consult First Nations, and
encouragement from the Crown formed the basis for Solid Gold's decision to
conduct a regional exploration program at Lake Abitibi, Ontario, Canada.


Over several staking campaigns, beginning in the fall of 2007 through the summer
of 2010, Solid Gold acquired mineral rights to a 200-square-kilometer property
on Crown land at Lake Abitibi (the "Property"). The Property hosts a largely
untested 15 km strike of the north branch of the famous Porcupine Fault zone.
Mineralized bedrock over the region is mostly obscured by a layer of overburden
that precludes use of conventional exploration methods to target the geology. To
overcome this, Solid Gold followed up on historical exploration initiatives in
the region by conducting expensive high-resolution airborne surveys to
accurately map the potential gold-bearing geology hidden from early explorers.


Owing to significant investment, data acquisition, compilation, analysis and
good luck, Solid Gold's phase one drill-testing program delivered a high-grade
gold discovery (previously disclosed on May 17, 2011). Even more important, the
program established that at least three separate mineralizing systems are
present on the Property. Results of early drilling suggest there is potential
for discovery of multiple deposits all along trend. As a result, Solid Gold
identified further funding to finance a more aggressive exploration and a
follow-up drill program.


Unfortunately, however, sampling and analysis from the follow-up program has yet
to be completed because in November 2011 Solid Gold found itself in the middle
of a conflict between First Nations and the Crown respecting asserted aboriginal
rights over the region, including the Property. The planned financing was lost.


In the absence of any legal requirement, Solid Gold attended a meeting initiated
by the Crown on November 4, 2011 billed as a friendly get-to-know-your-neighbour
kind of meeting. From the start, Wahgoshig First Nation ("WFN") demanded that
all exploration stop until Solid Gold conducted a $100,000 archeological survey
to the satisfaction of WFN. When Solid Gold advised that it had no budget for
such a survey, the Chief of WFN threatened litigation and stormed out of the
meeting. Shortly thereafter, WFN filed a motion and, as a result, on January 3,
2012, the Ontario Superior Court ordered that Solid Gold stop all further
mineral exploration on the Property for 120 days.


At the hearing the Crown admitted that it had a duty to consult "that was not
met". The Crown argued that it had delegated its constitutional duty to Solid
Gold in July of 2009. However, the Crown cannot delegate to the public in the
absence of statute, regulation or contract. Notwithstanding, the Crown, WFN and
Solid Gold were ordered by the Court to enter into a process of consultation and
accommodation for a 120-day period (the "Injunction").


Experts agree that the Injunction decision effectively confers a duty to consult
on the public, an outcome they say flies in the face of case law. The Supreme
Court of Canada concludes that the Crown's duty to consult does not extend to
third parties.


"This case represents the reality that there is still confusion as to whose duty
it is to consult, and what exactly the Crown can delegate", Sandra Gogal,
Partner at Miller Thomson LLP, has been quoted as saying in reference to the
Injunction.


There is no express or implied statutory authority requiring third-party
proponents to engage in consultation with First Nations.


Robert Merwin, the director of the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and
Mines' mining act modernization secretariat, said "new regulations were
initially scheduled to be implemented in June 2012, but that date has been
pushed back until autumn, at the earliest". "We want to take the time to get it
right" he said.


Get it right? The Crown has been trying to download its duty onto the public, in
the absence of any statute, regulation or policy, for at least the last six
years.


The Ontario Bar Association is one of many calling on the Crown to provide
greater clarity on who must do what in the area of aboriginal consultation.
"Clarifying the requirements for proponents, the role of government and the
rights of stakeholders, including aboriginal groups, is increasingly crucial if
Ontario is to be home to a responsible, stable and efficient mining sector that
successfully competes for investment money and jobs."


The duty to consult First Nations is borne from the honour of the Crown. In this
case, a start-up junior public company and its resource exploration investors,
with no capacity and no resources, are unfairly singled out to uphold and pay
for the honour of the Crown. Worse, this has effectively handed First Nations
veto over Crown land and the ability to make unlawful demands.


We are not archeologists, lawyers, native historians or constitutional scholars.
We are prospectors and shareholders who have invested in Ontario and have been
denied the right to access mineral claims located on Crown land for which Solid
Gold has been granted mineral rights and paid millions of dollars to maintain in
good standing.


The conflict has created great stress, organizational, financial and a personal
hardship for Solid Gold, its shareholders and everyone else involved.


Solid Gold is not alone. There are many others too scared to speak up for fear
of retribution. Let's talk about the negative effect that uncertainty has on
Canada's resource-based economy, both short and long-term, and what impact it
will soon have on ordinary citizens.


It is unconscionable that the Crown continues in its attempt to delegate its
constitutional duty onto industry in the absence of any obligatory law, policy,
regulation or guidelines.


The Crown is also discriminatory in its inaction and approach (read courting
Cliffs) while trampling the rights of junior public companies and other
defenceless minnows. The rule of law is at the heart of our society and without
it there can be neither peace nor order nor good government (McLachlin J.)


A Leave to Appeal motion brought by Solid Gold was heard on February 11, 2012,
seeking consent to Appeal the Injunction, but five months later a decision has
still not been published. An Appeal hearing is required to decide if the lower
Court erred in granting the Injunction and ordering Solid Gold to consult with
WFN. We hope the Court eventually explains the reason for punitive delay.


All these things taken together creates many impossible challenges and
negatively affects stability and predictability for industry and the economy. It
is obvious by looking at the Solid Gold stock price that investors are not
interested in financing consultation or the resulting protracted litigation
delays and cost of the Crown's failing. Nevertheless, Solid Gold has cooperated
in every way to comply with the Court order including disclosure of sensitive
operational information.


Ontario states that it "does not require proponents to enter written
arrangements with Aboriginal communities", so we fail to understand then why the
Crown makes offers of accommodation to WFN conditional on Solid Gold agreeing to
enter in an agreement with WFN to obtain consent to access its mineral claims.


This kind of coercion will do nothing to provide certainty for mineral rights
and access and results de facto veto power to First Nations while denying the
public access to Crown land. Plainly, any consultation and accommodation
required should have been completed by the Crown long before the mineral claims
were granted to Solid Gold and at a minimum before the Court ordered the
Injunction.


It is improper for the Crown to be adversarial to its resource industrial base
while attempting to minimize its own liability through all means fair or foul.


Solid Gold has respected fully the Court order. With the assistance and
generosity of our legal counsel, Solid Gold has been fully engaged in the
process. Indeed, it is Solid Gold that has taken the lead in many ways and our
counsel has done everything it can to facilitate meaningful consultation. A
Motion, brought by the WFN, to extend the Injunction has been adjourned
generally.


We now call upon the Crown to do the right thing. It is for the Crown to declare
to the Court that it has met its constitutional duty to consult and accommodate
WFN, so that Solid Gold can access all of its mineral claims and proceed with
further exploration. We ask that this be done within 30 days, failing which the
Crown should be ordered by the Court to erect a "Closed for Business" sign at
the provincial border on day 31.


The information in this news release includes certain information and statements
about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that
constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon
assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of
these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the
actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially
from those anticipated and indicated by these forward looking statements.
Although Solid Gold believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking
statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of
any forward looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by
law, Solid Gold disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or
revise any forward looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a
result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in
factors affecting such forward looking statements or otherwise.

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