New assays reported from 11 drill holes at Dakota Gold Corp.’s Maitland Gold Project in South Dakota demonstrate continuity in the Tertiary epithermal gold mineralization in the project’s Unionville Zone, the company says. The zone’s strike length could exceed 2 miles.
New assays reported from 11 drill holes at Dakota Gold Corp.’s (DC:NYSE American) Maitland Gold Project in South Dakota demonstrate continuity in the Tertiary epithermal gold mineralization in the project’s Unionville Zone, the company announced.
Maitland and Dakota’s Richmond Hill gold projects sit near the historic Homestake Mine, which produced 41 million ounces gold (Moz Au) and 9 Moz silver (Ag) over 126 years.
“This type of mineralization [Tertiary] was never pursued in the historical 40-million-ounce gold-producing Homestake Mine located approximately 3 miles (~4,800 meters) to the south, and it represents an underexplored opportunity for the company at Maitland and elsewhere on the company’s other project areas in the Homestake District,” Dakota said in a release.
The results show “long intercepts of mineralization, suggesting continuity between previous wide-spaced holes in addition to extension potential,” wrote Canaccord Genuity analyst Peter Bell in an updated research note on March 20. “We note that drill results to date have only partially tested approximately 1,200 meters of the potential 3,200 meters of Tertiary epithermal mineralization.”
Like the Tertiary epithermal structure that hosts Maitland’s mineralization east of the Unionville Zone, Bell noted that the “Tertiary epithermal mineralization here is yet another exploration target that has the potential for adding ounces to the Unionville Zone.”
Highlights of the release include:
- Step-out drill hole MA23C-023, completed over 600 meters to the north of MA22C-009, returned 6.24 grams per tonne (g/t) Au over 2.6 meters, indicating a significant extension of the Tertiary gold mineralization at Maitland.
- Infill drill holes MA23C-028 and MA24C-035, completed south and north of the Unionville Zone discovery hole, returned 4.44 g/t Au over 15.3 meters (including 6.47 g/t Au over 9.6 meters) and 7.24 g/t Au over 7.3 meters, respectively.
- The Unionville Zone remains open to the north and south with an ultimate strike length that could exceed 2 miles.
- The epithermal gold mineralization occurs along parallel structures found in the historic Maitland Gold Mine to the east and undrilled parallel structures west of the Unionville Zone discovery, the company said.
The Catalyst: Tertiary Mineralization Continues to Grow
Dakota noted that drill results to date have only partially tested 1,200 meters of the potential 2 miles of the Tertiary epithermal mineralization.
“The opportunity we see at Maitland is unique in that we have the possibility to access two distinct types of mineralization, Tertiary-age epithermal mineralization near surface and Precambrian-age, Homestake Mine-style mineralization at depth,” Dakota’s Vice President Exploration James Berry said. “Tertiary mineralization has the potential to provide a strategic entryway for exploration to the Homestake Mine-style gold mineralization encountered below. The Tertiary mineralization at Maitland continues to grow, and it remains open and underexplored.”
Analysts Michael Gray and Jake Savage of Agentis Capital noted the results will have a “minor positive” impact on the company.
The results show “long intercepts of mineralization, suggesting continuity between previous wide-spaced holes in addition to extension potential,” wrote Canaccord Genuity analyst Peter Bell in an updated research note .
“Based on rock sample geochem and historical drilling, the Unionville zone is open over 3.2 kilometers to the north and south and has only been drilled across a strike of ~1.2 kilometers to date,” they wrote in a March 20 note. “We highlight parallel structural corridors have been observed in the historic Maitland mine to the east of current drilling and to the west of current drilling in an untested area.”
The company also has recently released assay results from Richmond Hill that continue to “confirm the presence of high-grade, near-surface mineralization . . . with many of the holes returning thicker-than-average intervals with higher-than-average grades,” Bell noted in an earlier research note.
Dakota also has found important rare earth elements (REEs) vital to the new clean energy economy at the project. China is responsible for two-thirds of current REE mine production and more than 85% of the refined output of REEs, and developing a new mine can take years.
The company has four drill rigs going at the projects and will be releasing a maiden resource for Richmond Hill shortly after Easter.
‘The Real Deal’
The company consolidated its 46,000 acres of holdings surrounding the original Homestake Mine, first discovered in 1876 and consolidated by George Hearst, over the past decade. The area was once called the “Richest 100 Square Miles” on Earth.
Since much of the land owned by Dakota has not been explored in nearly 30 years, there’s hope for more discoveries.
A tour of the area in 2021 convinced Chris Temple, editor of The National Investor, of that fact. He recently threw his hat into the ring for Dakota Gold, making the stock a new recommendation earlier this month.
“During that trip — and as a multi-faceted exploration game plan has come together since — I have grown to be increasingly of the view that this is the real deal,” Temple said about Dakota. “Indeed —as you’ll be hearing more of from me in the near future — the exploration potential has been revealed as more substantial than first thought.”
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 industry giant Barrick Gold Corp., which owns about 3%. The rest is retail.
Dakota Gold has a market cap of US$193 million, with 86.74 million shares outstanding. It trades in a 52-week range of US$3.95 and US$1.95.
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- 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.
- 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.
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