Dakota Gold books high-grade assays at Richmond Hill

New drilling by Dakota Gold (NYSE-A: DC) at its Richmond Hill gold project in South Dakota has identified additional pockets of higher-grade mineralization within the mine’s planned open-pit development area.

Expansion hole RH26C-432 cut 26 metres grading 11.36 grams gold per tonne and 14.92 grams silver from about 75 metres depth, Dakota Gold said Monday. Hole RH26C-437 cut 38 metres of 2.89 grams gold and 8.18 grams silver from about 145 metres downhole.

Dakota Gold's recently completed 2026 drill program for Richmond Hill covered 17,273 metres across 112 infill, expansion, and geotechnical holes. Gold and silver assay data from more than 350 holes completed this year and last will be incorporated into a prefeasibility study (PFS) that’s due to be published by Dec. 31. 

The results released Monday extend “higher-grade mineralization beyond the existing measured and indicated footprint and reinforcing resource growth ahead of the prefeasibility study,” Scotia Capital mining analyst Eric Winmill said in a note. He called the assays “positive.”

Critical items

Other highlights include hole RH26C-452, which cut 16 metres of 1.63 grams gold and 12.03 grams silver from 79 metres depth. Other holes returned broader lower-grade zones. They include hole RH26C-448, which cut 22 metres of 0.61 gram gold and 55.85 grams silver from 11 metres downwhole.

Dakota Gold said it’s advanced the Richmond Hill PFS sufficiently to identify critical long-lead-time items. The longest such item is an electrical substation, for which the company has secured a construction slot through Black Hills Energy.

Expansion drilling in Richmond Hill’s northeast project area remains open in all directions, Dakota Gold added.

Located about 320 km west of South Dakota’s capital, Pierre, Richmond Hill is part of a 180-sq.-km land package controlled by the company near the historic Homestake mine. It hosts a large oxide gold system amenable to conventional open-pit mining and heap leach processing.

Homestake produced about 40 million oz. of gold during more than 145 years of mining. It ceased operations in 2002.

Mine builder

Dakota Gold CEO Robert Quartermain previously built Pretium Resources and developed the Brucejack mine in British Columbia before agreeing to be bought by Newcrest – now Newmont Mining (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM) – for about C$3.5 billion ($2.5 billion) in 2021. He formed Dakota Gold the following year to explore in South Dakota.

Richmond Hill could produce 2.6 million to 3.9 million oz. of gold over a potential mine life of 28 years, according to an S-K 1300 Initial Assessment report from July. With a post-tax net present value of $1.6 billion (C$2.4 billion) to $2.1 billion, the project has a post-tax internal rate of return of 55% to 59%, with initial costs of $384 million. Dakota is targeting production for 2029.

The project hosts 244.7 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.46 gram gold and 4.83 grams silver for 3.6 million oz. of contained gold and 38 million oz. silver, according to an initial resource released in February 2025. Inferred resources total 230.6 million tonnes at 0.35 gram gold and 3.09 grams silver for 2.6 million oz. gold and 22.7 million oz. silver.

Dakota Gold shares rose almost 1% to $4.51 in New York Monday morning, giving the company a market capitalization of about $600 million (C$852 million). The stock has traded between $3.60 and $7.25 in the past year.