Gold Co. Finds More High Grades Near Historical Mine

Dakota Gold Corp. (DC:NYSE American) announced results from four more drill holes at its Richmond Hill Gold Project in South Dakota, the last of the assays from its 2023 drilling campaign around the historical resource area.

The company continues to "confirm the presence of high-grade, near-surface mineralization" at the project, "with many of the holes returning thicker-than-average intervals with higher-than-average grades," Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets analyst Peter Bell noted in an updated research note Thursday.

"The highlight of the release was RH23C-074, which was drilled in the MW3 Main Zone," Bell wrote. "We are encouraged by the results seen to date at the MW3 Zone, which have continued to illustrate the presence of higher-grade structures with thicker intervals, which we believe provides support for expansion in future resource estimates."

Drill hole RH23C-074 was an offset of RH23C-016, originally announced last year. RH23C-016 had a length-weighted average of 0.95 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over 306.9 meters in the MW3 Main Zone. RH23C-074 confirmed higher-grade near surface oxide mineralization intersecting 1.68 g/t Au over 60.9 meters.

The assay was received after the cutoff date for the company's maiden Richmond Hill resource, due out early in Q2, but the results "have the potential to expand the resource in future estimates," Dakota Gold said in a release.

The company is exploring the 48,000 acres it has acquired and consolidated over the past decade surrounding the Homestake Mine, including the Richmond Hill and Maitland projects.

Once called the "Richest 100 Square Miles" on Earth, Homestake was discovered in 1876 and consolidated by George Hearst. Over 126 years, miners extracted 41 million ounces (Moz) Au and 9 Moz silver (Ag) from the site. The company is also backed by industry giant Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX:TSX; GOLD:NYSE)

The Catalyst: Focus Now on Resource Estimate

Dakota Gold said holes RH23C-024 and RH23C-026, also released this week, successfully expanded mineralization and returned numerous intervals with significant grades. RH23C-024 intersected 1.68 g/t Au over 11.5 meters, and RH23C-026 intersected 1.04 g/t Au over 21.7 meters.

"Understanding the orientation of mineralizing feeders and projecting them into prospective geologic areas, such as favorable host rocks, is proving to be an effective tool for targeting our exploration at Richmond Hill," said Dakota Gold Vice President Exploration James Berry. "The Precambrian hosted gold mineralization at Richmond Hill is located within and around the breccia pipes. We have additional exploration opportunities at other breccia pipes and yet to be discovered pipes beneath cover."

Berry said the company's focus is now on finishing the Richmond Hill resource estimate, "But work will begin to expand it using all the great results we've reported here and in our last few news releases for the Richmond Hill Gold Project."

In February, the company released assays from 12 holes at Richmond Hill, including one, RH23C-070, that intersected 1.71 g/t Au over 42.8 meters. Another, RH23C-063, intersected 1.99 g/t Au over 22.9 meters.

There's More: Rare Earth Elements

The company also recently announced a big surprise at the project: Important rare earth elements (REEs) vital to the new clean energy economy.

China is responsible for two-thirds of current REE mine production and more than 85% of the refined output of REEs. For that reason, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced more than US$200 million in grants for REE projects — US$32 million last July, US$30 million in August, and US$150 million in September. Dakota Gold also noted that "the United States has begun prioritizing the permitting of critical mineral exploration and mining projects," which could reduce permitting timelines.

REEs are used for everything from purifying water to MRIs, fertilizers, weapons, scientific research, wind turbines, computers, and permanent magnet motors for electric vehicles (EVs). Developing a new mine can take years, and China has been escalating a standoff with the West.

"The U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Energy are prioritizing REEs," analyst Michael Gray of Agentis Capital wrote in a January 31 research note, pointing out that Richmond Hill is about 45 kilometers east of Rare Element Resources Ltd.'s (REEMF:OTCQX) Bear Lodge project in Wyoming.

Ownership and Share Structure

According to the company, approximately 25% of its shares are with management and insiders.

Out of management, Co-Chairman Robert Quartermain holds the most shares at 8.59% or 7.45 million shares, President and CEO Jonathan Awde is next at 6.93%, with 6.01 million shares, while COO Jerry Aberle holds 4.93%, with 4.28 million. The remainder of the 25% is held by other members of management and the board of directors.

About 26% of the shares are with institutional investors, according to Yahoo Finance and Edgar filings. Top institutional holders include Fourth Sail Capital with 5.33%, Van Eck Associates with 4.02%, Blackrock Institutional Trust Co. with 3.69%, The Vanguard Group Inc. with about 3.19%, Fidelity Management and Research Co. LLC with 2.74%, and CI Investments Inc. with 2.66%.

About 16.5% is with strategic investors, including Orion Mine Finance, which owns about 7.7%, and Barrick Gold Corp., which owns about 3%. The rest is retail.

Dakota Gold has a market cap of US$185.19 million, with 86.74 million shares outstanding. It trades in a 52-week range of US$3.95 and US$1.95.

Important Disclosures:

1. Dakota Gold Corp. is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports and pays SWR a monthly sponsorship fee between US$4,000 and US$5,000.
2. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Dakota Gold Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp.
3. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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