Explorer Finds High-Grade Gold in South Dakota Breakthrough

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Dakota Gold Corp. (DC:NYSE American) announced initial findings from its 2025 drilling campaign at the Richmond Hill Oxide Heap Leach Gold Project in the historic Homestake District in South Dakota's Black Hills.

The results from 19 drill holes received so far are consistent with prior drilling and align with the company's expectations, particularly with drill hole RH25C-164, which encountered 1.94 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over a length of 60 meters, of which 51.9 meters is classified as potentially heap-leachable material, the company said in a release.

Dakota Gold said it currently has two drills in operation at Richmond Hill and the company plans to drill a total of 24,384 meters throughout the campaign, utilizing both reverse circulation and core drilling techniques. The core drilling aims to collect metallurgical samples for column testing related to the feasibility study for Richmond Hill, as well as conduct infill and resource expansion drilling in the northern section of the project area. The reverse circulation drilling will establish monitoring wells to support the collection of environmental baseline data necessary for permitting.

"I am very pleased with the progress of the drill campaign, and I am happy to report that Dakota Gold’s team and contractors have upheld our outstanding safety record with zero lost time incidents or environmental issues," VP Exploration James Berry said. "The assay results obtained continue to confirm significant mineralization that has the potential to be heap leachable based on anticipated metallurgical performance that was used for the most recent S-K 1300 resource announced in February of this year. The grade and widths of the gold intercepts reported today continue to validate results from previous drill."

Drilling started on April 1 and 56 holes, representing 30% of the drilling campaign, have been completed so far. The 19 assay results returned so far were completed for metallurgical evaluation.

Notable intersections include:

• RH25C-162 intersected 1.85 g/t Au over 43.4 meters
• RH25C-164 intersected 1.94 g/t Au over 60 meters
• RH25C-166 intersected 2.25 g/t Au over 44.3 meters
• RH25C-167 intersected 2.10 g/t Au over 34.3 meters
• RH25C-169 intersected 2.78 g/t Au over 39.3 meters

The drilling campaign began in the northern section of the project area and will progressively move northeast over the upcoming months, concluding in the fall, Dakota said. The northeast portion is expected to be mined early in the mine plan and displays mineralization at or near the surface. This area remains open for expansion and shows the potential for significant oxide material based on previous drilling results. Drilling in the northeastern area is anticipated to start in July.

The company will continue to disclose drill results throughout the fall as they come in, and the findings from this drilling campaign will contribute to the Feasibility Study that is projected for release in early 2027.

Results Validate Resource

Earlier this month, the company had its target price boosted 45% by Canaccord Genuity as a result of updating its model on the U.S. gold explorer.

"We reiterate our Speculative Buy rating on Dakota Gold," wrote Analyst Peter Bell in a June 3 research note. Canaccord's new target was US$12 per share, up from US$8.25 previously.

On release of the new assay results, Bell issued an update note calling the news "positive."

"The infill results represent the first assays from the 2025 drill program at Richmond Hill," he wrote. "Overall, the results appear to be in line with previous drilling and serve to validate the current resource at Richmond Hill."

Overall, "Richmond Hill is an important component of Dakota Gold's exploration strategy for the Homestake District," Bell has written.

The property contains the past-producing Richmond Hill mine and the Carbonate District mines. It is north of Coeur Mining Inc.'s  (CDE:NYSE) Wharf mine and like Wharf, generally hosts Tertiary Age mineralization. Gold occurs in breccia zones.

Richmond Hill's current global resource, heap leachable and mill, is 721,900,000 tons (721.9 Mt) of 0.42 grams per ton gold (0.42 g/t Au), containing 9,600,000 ounces (9.6 Moz). This represents a 294% increase in contained gold from the prior MRE. The heap-leachable resource, Canaccord's focus, Bell wrote, now is 6.3 Moz of Au, up from 1.7 Moz, though lower grade.

"In our updated mine model, we assume a conversion of 90% of Measured & Indicated and 70% Inferred," wrote Bell.

The updated MRE encompasses two sets of drill data. The historical set contains 56,734 gold assays from 902 holes drilled over 90,447 meters (90,447m). The modern set encompasses 30,743 gold assays from 146 holes, over 45,540m, drilled by Dakota since 2022.

A Transformational Year

According to Andrew Mikitchook, BMO Capital Markets analyst, 2025 is a transformational year for Dakota Gold as it "moves to become a developer, establishing a pathway to production." The company has a nonbinding proposal with Orion Mine Finance Investment for up to $300M in construction financing and is fortunate to be one the few explorers with this benefit, he wrote in a Feb. 26 report.

Richmond Hill, with its 6.3 Moz of oxide gold in all resource categories and upside potential with another 3.4 Moz of sulphides, is a meaningful deposit in the U.S. and globally, the analyst described in a Feb. 10 research report. Its location on private ground simplifies permitting and development. The updated MRE justifies a larger development plan than BMO estimated before, so the investment bank raised its target price by 25%. Now it implies a 100% return from the gold explorer's current share price. Dakota is rated Outperform.

The Catalyst: Gold Maintains Stability

Gold (XAU/USD) maintained stability near US$3,392 on Wednesday, buoyed by ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and a cautious sentiment among investors ahead of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) upcoming policy announcement, according to a Wednesday report by FX Street.

XAU/USD was trading just beneath the US$3,400 mark, with price movements primarily confined to a range as market participants await new insights from the Federal Reserve.

Recent economic data released earlier in the session suggests a slowdown in U.S. growth momentum. In May, housing starts fell by 9.8% to 1.256 million, falling short of projections, while initial jobless claims were reported at 245,000. Continuing claims totaled 1.945 million, reflecting a gradual easing in labor market conditions. Together, these indicators bolster the case for a cautious stance from the Fed, FX Street wrote.

Traders are particularly attentive to the Fed’s outlook on interest rates, revised economic forecasts, and Powell’s remarks. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, analysts anticipate that the Fed will maintain interest rates in the 4.25%-4.50% range during the next two meetings, with a 58% likelihood of a rate cut in September, the website said.

The Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) and the revised “dot plot” will provide insight into how policymakers perceive inflation, growth, and the expected path for interest rates for the remainder of the year. Investors will closely examine any adjustments to inflation predictions and interest rate outlooks, as these will influence prospects for potential rate cuts.

Powell's tone during the subsequent press conference will be crucial, particularly regarding his comments on recent data trends, global risks, and the appropriateness of current policy. Dovish indicators could exert downward pressure on the US Dollar, thus supporting Gold, while a hawkish stance may strengthen the Dollar and create downward pressure on Gold.

Specialists have also said the current bull market in gold is not anticipated to diminish soon. Garth Friesen documented for Forbes on March 15 that DoubleLine Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Gundlach said, "I think gold will make it to US$4,000. I'm not sure that'll happen this year, but I feel like that's the measured move anticipated by the long consolidation at around US$1,800 on gold."

Ownership and Share Structure

According to Refinitiv, nine insiders own 12.83% of Dakota Gold. Of these, the Top 3 are Co-Chair, Director and CEO Robert Quartermain with 6.79%, Director Gerald Aberle with 3.86%, and Co-chairman and Managing Director Stephen O'Rourke with 0.81%.

Numerous institutions hold 45.32% of Dakota in aggregate. The Top 3 are Orion Resource Partners (USA) LP with 8.68%, BlackRock Institutional Trust Co. N.A. with 3.62%, and The Vanguard Group Inc. with 3.51%. The rest is in retail.

Dakota Gold has 111.89 million (118.89M) outstanding shares, and its market cap is US$437.49M. Its 52-week range is US$1.84–4.11 per share.