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Dakota Gold Reports Significant Heap Leachable Gold at Richmond Hill Totaling 3.65 Million Ounces of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources
Lead, South Dakota--(Newsfile Corp. - February 6, 2025) - Dakota Gold Corp. (NYSE American: DC) ("Dakota Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its S-K 1300 Initial Assessment ("Initial Assessment" or "Report") has outlined a robust resource1 focused on heap leachable material at the Richmond Hill Oxide Heap Leach Gold Project ("Richmond Hill" or "Project") in South Dakota that will provide a pathway to near term production.
Highlights:
The 3.65 million ounce measured and indicated ("M&I") heap leachable resource will inform the Initial Assessment with Cash Flow ("IACF") planned for release mid-2025. The IACF will outline a potential at surface heap leach operation similar to Coeur Mining's profitable Wharf Mine located 5 km to the south of Richmond Hill. Additionally, the Report has identified a heap leachable inferred resource of 2.61 million ounces. Mineralization is shallow with portions of the resource exposed at or near surface.
Major factors informing this resource include additional infill and step-out drilling, analysis of the drilling data, additional metallurgical test work to refine the geometallurgical domains, and evaluation of alternative process methods - notably, heap leach of oxide and appropriate transition zones. Silver was also included in the updated resource.
The heap leachable resource remains open to the north and in the southeast area of Richmond Hill. Both areas are currently in the process of being permitted for 2025 drilling with the goal of expanding the resource with material amenable to heap leaching. Additionally, drilling is planned to begin converting resource to reserves and gathering additional metallurgical data.
Complimenting the heap leachable resources, the Report has also identified significant milled resources and outlines a combined heap leach and milled M&I resource of 4.64 million ounces and combined heap leach and milled inferred resource of 5.06 million ounces noted in Table 2. The additional milled material provides long-term optionality for the Project.
Barrick Gold has agreed to extend the option period for the Richmond Hill option and the Homestake option agreements until December 31, 2028 in return for additional annual payments of $170,000 and $340,000 respectively. The first of these payments are due March 1, 2026.
Dr. Robert Quartermain, Co-Chair, President, and CEO of Dakota Gold said, "The heap leachable resource we have identified at Richmond Hill is transformational for Dakota Gold and forms the platform from which we can grow and expand our mining and exploration activities in the Homestake District. In less than three years since commencing drilling, we have outlined a significant near-surface heap leachable resource that we expect to advance through economic studies to Feasibility, and into commercial production as soon as 2029, based on our current work and project understanding. The Project has significant advantages as it is located on private land, in an area that has existing infrastructure and is a 15-minute drive from our headquarters in the city of Lead. We expect these factors to be greatly beneficial in reducing both construction costs and timelines to potential production. We also expect that the Project has potential to generate significant free cash flow once in production, which benefits all stakeholders including our shareholders, local communities and the State of South Dakota."
James Berry, VP Exploration commented, "The results of the new resource for Richmond Hill have exceeded our expectations and showcase the extent and quality of the Project mineralization. The step-out drilling incorporated in this update was very successful as evidenced by the expanded resource. Drilling encountered gold mineralized material in nearly every hole and also encountered higher silver grades than those in the other areas of the resource. We look forward to doing follow up drilling in the northeastern portion of the Project as well as the other target areas outlined in the Report in anticipation of a further resource expansion in 2025."
Resource Overview:
The oxide dominant resource announced today has been significantly upgraded from the maiden Initial Assessment resource ("maiden resource") reported previously in April 2024. In the maiden resource at Richmond Hill, the oxide resource was 60% inferred and had no measured resources. In today's resource update, the leach resource is almost 60% measured and indicated, split roughly equally, and this higher confidence level represents a positive step towards feasibility study stage, and de-risking the Project.
The resource is informed by a historical database containing 56,734 gold assays from 902 drill holes totaling 90,447 meters of drilling, and an additional 30,743 gold assays from 146 drill holes totaling 45,540 meters of drilling by Dakota Gold since 2022 to expand the resource.
With the new resource completed, work has begun on the IACF expected mid-2025 and is focused on areas where the resource contained higher-grade heap leach material.
Dakota Gold has contracted with M3, RESPEC, IMC and Woods Processing to undertake the necessary engineering and metallurgical studies currently in progress to advance from the IACF to initiating a full feasibility study in mid-2025. Concurrently the Company is undertaking baseline environmental studies that will inform future permitting requirements.
Richmond Hill is expected to have economics similar 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 primarily on previously mined, private land and we believe we can advance the project expeditiously through permitting, development and into production. The non-binding financial proposal for up to $300 million for a development opportunity with Orion Mine Finance, our major shareholder, which was announced on October 12, 2023, could provide Dakota Gold with the financial pathway to a commercial gold operation.
The Report will be published on the Company's website and filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR as an exhibit to its Current Report on Form 8-K dated February 6, 2025. The Report was prepared by an independent group of Qualified Persons under Independent Mining Company ("IMC") and Woods Processing.
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