Lead, South Dakota--(Newsfile Corp. - December 11, 2024) - Dakota Gold Corp. (NYSE American: DC) ("Dakota Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results of twenty-four drill holes from the infill and step-out drill program designed to expand the maiden resource at the Richmond Hill Gold Project ("Richmond Hill") ("drill program"). The results reported today are the final assays from the drill program which began in November 2023, and they, along with the previously released results from the drill program, will be incorporated into an updated S-K 1300 Initial Assessment ("Initial Assessment or Report") in Q1 2025. The maiden S-K 1300 resource ("maiden resource"), which was announced on April 30, 2024 outlined an Indicated Resource of 51.83 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.80 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) for 1.33 million ounces, and Inferred Resource of 58.06 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.61 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) for 1.13 million ounces.
Highlights:
The drill results reported in this release are from the northeast area of the Richmond Hill resource area known as Chism Gulch, where there has been limited drill testing by the Company. Results to date demonstrate areas of additional oxide mineralization, and the grade and width are higher in average than the drill results used to inform the maiden resource.
Highlighted intersections include:
RH24C-122 intersected - 1.00 g/t Au over 38.2 meters
RH24C-136 intersected - 3.30 g/t Au over 11.8 meters
RH24C-142 intersected - 2.22 g/t Au over 50.0 meters
RH24C-143 intersected - 2.54 g/t Au over 11.4 meters
Drilling to date indicates that the entire Richmond Hill resource shell remains open in all directions. There is potential for significant resource growth through additional drilling, metallurgical work to improve recoveries, and inclusion of silver in the updated resource.
Dakota Gold is on track to produce an updated S-K 1300 resource for Richmond Hill which will be informed by a historical database containing 56,771 gold assays from 910 drill holes, with the addition of 145 drill holes totaling 45,517 meters of drilling by Dakota Gold's program to expand the maiden resource.
James Berry, VP Exploration for Dakota Gold said, "The results received to date from our drill program have exceeded my expectations for grade and widths. Of the 52 drill hole results reported to date from the Chism Gulch area, the average grade is 1.13 g/t Au, with an average width of 10.9 meters, which is much better than the averages for drilling at Chism Gulch used to generate the maiden resource and bodes well to increase resource ounces. The Chism Gulch area remains open to the north and east. We look forward to our updated S-K 1300 resource early in the New Year, incorporating results from Chism Gulch and Twin Tunnels drilling."
"The Richmond Hill drill results reported today will contribute to a robust resource update in Q1 2025 and provide areas for future resource expansion," stated Robert Quartermain, Co-Chair, President and CEO. He continued, "With our successful step-out drilling campaign at Maitland reported in our December 3rd, 2024 news release, both of our projects align with our expectations this year, and we are well-positioned to grow shareholder value through successful exploration."
Richmond Hill Oxide Heap Leach Gold Project
Based on the current defined oxide resource and additional significant drill hole intercepts encountered in the current drill campaign, Dakota has contracted with M3, RESPEC, IMC and Woods Processing to undertake the necessary engineering and metallurgical studies currently in progress to advance from the Initial Assessment with Cash Flow (IACF) to initiating a full feasibility in Q2 2025. Concurrently the Company is undertaking baseline environmental studies that will inform future permitting requirements. With regards Richmond Hill, it is analogous to the adjacent Wharf Mine of Coeur Mining which is expected to generate over $100 million in free cash flow in 2024 from approximately 90,000 ounces of gold. The Richmond Hill Oxide Heap Leach Gold Project is located on private land with certain existing permits and we believe with anticipated updated amendments, we can advance the project expeditiously through development and into production. Our financial proposal for up to $300 million for a development opportunity with Orion Mine Finance, our major shareholder announced on October 12, 2023, provides Dakota Gold with the financial pathway to a commercial gold operation.
Maitland Gold Project
The Maitland Gold Project hosts the JB Gold Zone, which has returned highlight intercepts including drill hole MA23C-038 which intersected 25.03 g/t Au over 4.4 meters. Maitland is three miles along strike north of the historic Homestake Mine and gold mineralization now extends over 1,646 meters based on our recent drilling. The JB Gold Zone discovery is analogous to the West Ledges at the Homestake Mine that produced over 6 million ounces at a grade of 7.7 g/t Au. Dakota Gold has completed its 2024 Maitland drill program and is assessing results that will inform the 2025 follow up drill program where we have significant potential to continue to expand the footprint of the high-grade gold discovered to date.
Table 1. Richmond Hill Drill Results (Metric / Imperial)1,2
Hole #
From
To
Depth
Interval*
Gold
From
To
Depth
Interval*
Gold
Mineral Type
g x m
m
m
m
m
g/t
ft
ft
ft
ft
oz/ton
RH24C-122
4.3
42.5
3
38.2
1.00
14.2
139.4
10
125.2
0.029
TꞒd
38
RH24C-124
46.7
53.1
24
6.5
1.01
153.1
174.3
80
21.2
0.030
TꞒd / Tert
7
59.4
66.0
32
6.6
0.98
194.9
216.4
106
21.5
0.029
TꞒd
6
RH24C-125
18.6
25.6
12
7.0
0.64
61.0
84.1
41
23.1
0.019
TꞒd
5
29.8
34.4
20
4.6
1.59
97.8
112.8
67
15.0
0.046
TꞒd
7
41.3
51.1
29
9.8
0.92
135.6
167.7
94
32.1
0.027
TꞒd
9
RH24C-127
11.4
33.0
8
21.6
0.81
37.3
108.2
26
70.9
0.024
TꞒd
17
39.4
47.7
27
8.4
1.60
129.2
156.6
87
27.4
0.047
TꞒd
13
RH24C-128
99.3
118.1
41
18.8
0.75
325.8
387.5
134
61.7
0.022
TꞒd
14
RH24C-129
38.1
45.1
16
7.0
0.70
125.0
148.0
51
23.0
0.020
TꞒd
5
70.4
74.9
43
4.5
0.83
231.0
245.8
140
14.8
0.024
Tert
4
RH24C-130
36.1
42.2
20
6.0
0.60
118.5
138.3
67
19.8
0.018
TꞒd / Tert
4
47.9
66.6
23
18.7
0.93
157.1
218.6
77
61.5
0.027
TꞒd / Tert / TpꞒ
18
RH24C-131
108.0
120.5
65
12.5
0.58
354.2
395.3
214
41.1
0.017
TꞒd / Tert
7
123.5
134.5
73
10.9
0.71
405.3
441.2
241
35.9
0.021
TpꞒ
8
RH24C-132
48.4
54.1
19
5.7
1.86
158.7
177.5
63
18.8
0.054
TꞒd
11
57.6
65.6
22
7.9
0.71
189.1
215.1
72
26.0
0.021
TꞒd
6
82.1
88.9
34
6.8
0.54
269.4
291.8
110
22.4
0.016
Tert / TpꞒ
4
92.9
99.3
39
6.4
0.58
304.9
325.8
127
20.9
0.017
TpꞒ
4
RH24C-133
18.0
31.3
20
13.4
0.94
58.9
102.8
65
43.9
0.027
TꞒd
13
34.6
40.0
36
5.4
1.12
113.6
131.3
118
17.7
0.033
TꞒd / Tert
6
RH24C-134
13.0
17.4
7
4.4
2.31
42.5
57.0
23
14.5
0.067
TꞒd
10
22.5
29.9
14
7.4
1.31
73.8
98.0
46
24.2
0.038
TꞒd
10
RH24C-135
86.7
116.6
66
29.8
0.90
284.5
382.4
218
97.9
0.026
TꞒd / Tert / TpꞒ
27
RH24C-136
5.4
18.5
2
11.8
3.30
22.0
60.6
8
38.6
0.096
TꞒd
39
21.9
25.0
11
3.0
0.97
72.0
82.0
35
10.0
0.028
TꞒd
3
29.6
35.7
16
6.1
1.14
97.2
117.1
54
19.9
0.033
Tert
7
RH24C-137
0.0
10.1
0
10.1
1.24
0.0
33.3
0
33.3
0.036
TꞒd
13
RH24C-138
74.7
84.6
59
9.9
0.56
245.0
277.6
192
32.6
0.016
TꞒd
6
RH24C-139
62.4
72.1
42
9.7
0.78
204.8
236.7
138
31.9
0.023
TꞒd
8
78.5
87.2
55
8.7
1.11
257.6
286.2
182
28.6
0.032
TpꞒ / Tert
10
RH24C-140
61.6
68.9
61
7.3
1.48
202.0
226.1
199
24.1
0.043
TꞒd
11
76.3
83.2
70
6.9
1.40
250.4
273.0
229
22.6
0.041
TꞒd
10
RH24C-141
55.9
63.7
26
7.8
1.80
183.3
208.9
84
25.6
0.053
TꞒd
14
66.3
72.1
30
5.8
0.73
217.4
236.4
97
19.0
0.021
TꞒd
4
RH24C-142
32.3
82.2
36
50.0
2.22
105.9
269.8
117
163.9
0.065
TꞒd / Tert / TpꞒ
111
RH24C-143
0.0
6.2
0
6.2
0.77
0.0
20.3
0
20.3
0.023
TꞒd
5
12.4
16.6
5
4.1
1.14
40.7
54.3
16
13.6
0.033
TꞒd
5
25.1
33.3
9
8.2
1.05
82.4
109.3
29
26.9
0.031
Tert / TꞒd
9
51.3
66.4
16
15.0
0.89
168.4
217.7
52
49.3
0.026
TꞒd
13
71.0
82.4
20
11.4
2.54
233.0
270.4
64
37.4
0.074
TꞒd / TpꞒ
29
RH24C-144
26.8
32.4
25
5.6
0.91
88.0
106.3
81
18.3
0.027
TꞒd
5
RH24C-145
No Significant Results
RH24C-146
72.9
93.1
53
20.2
1.23
239.3
305.6
175
66.3
0.036
TpꞒ / Tert
25
RH24C-147
25.9
29.4
16
3.5
0.62
85.0
96.4
52
11.4
0.018
TpꞒ
2
The table may contain rounding errors.
Abbreviations in the table include ounces per ton ("oz/ton"); grams per tonne ("g/t"); feet ("ft"); meter ("m"); Tertiary breccia hosted mineralization ("TBx"); Cambrian Deadwood Fm hosted Tertiary mineralization ("TꞒd"); Tertiary intrusive hosted mineralization ("Tert"); and Precambrian hosted Tertiary mineralization ("TpꞒ").
True thickness unknown.
Figure 1. Plan Map of Chism Gulch Drill Hole Traces
Dakota Gold is building on the legacy of the 145 year old Homestake Gold Mining District by advancing the Richmond Hill Oxide Heap Leach Gold Project and outlining a high-grade underground gold resource at the Maitland Gold Project located on private land in South Dakota.
Subscribe to Dakota Gold's e-mail list at www.dakotagoldcorp.com to receive the latest news and other Company updates.
Shareholder and Investor Inquiries
For more information, please contact: Dr. Robert Quartermain Co-Chair, Director, President and Chief Executive Officer Tel: +1 778-655-9638
Dr. Stephen O'Rourke Co-Chair, Director and Managing Director Tel: +1 605-717-2540
Carling Gaze VP of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Tel: +1 605-679-7429 Email: info@dakotagoldcorp.com
Qualified Person and S-K 1300 Disclosure
James M. Berry, a Registered Member of SME and Vice President of Exploration of Dakota Gold Corp., is the Company's designated qualified person (as defined in Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K) for this news release and has reviewed and approved its scientific and technical content.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control consists of regular insertion of certified reference materials, duplicate samples, and blanks into the sample stream. Samples are submitted to the ALS Geochemistry sample preparation facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Gold and multi-element analyses are performed at the ALS Geochemistry laboratory in Vancouver, British Columbia. ALS Minerals is an ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited lab. Check samples are submitted to Bureau Veritas, Vancouver B.C. as an umpire laboratory. Assay results are reviewed, and discrepancies are investigated prior to incorporation into the Company database.
Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. When used in this communication, the words "plan," "target," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "potential," "will" and "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Any express or implied statements contained in this communication that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: our expectations regarding the drilling to be completed in 2024 and 2025; our expectations for the improvement and growth of the mineral resources; the grade potential of the drilling completed after the effective date of the Initial Assessment; the timing for the updated S-K 1300 Initial Assessments to be released in 2025 or thereafter; and our overall expectation for the possibility of near-term production at the Richmond Hill project. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and expectations that may not be realized and are inherently subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: the execution and timing of our planned exploration activities; our use and evaluation of historic data; our ability to achieve our strategic goals; the state of the economy and financial markets generally and the effect on our industry; and the market for our common stock. The foregoing list is not exhaustive. For additional information regarding factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements, we refer you to the risk factors included in Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as updated by annual, quarterly and current reports that we file with the SEC, which are available at www.sec.gov. We caution investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this communication. These statements speak only as of the date of this communication, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. We do not give any assurance that we will achieve our expectations.
All references to "$" in this communication are to U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.
