Gold Corp. Breaks Own Intercept Mark in Historic Mining District

Dakota Gold Corp. (DC:NYSE American) released assay results from a drill hole at its Maitland Gold Project in the historic Homestake District of South Dakota that included the highest-grade intersection to date by the company.

The Homestake Formation gold mineralization contains "visible free gold associated with lower sulfide quartz-carbonate veins," the company noted in a release.

Drill hole MA23C-026 was designed to test the southern extent of mineralization found between two holes drilled last year. It intersected 167 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over 1 meter, about 240 feet below the two closely spaced intersections in the middle portion of the drill hole.

Peter Bell of Canaccord Genuity wrote in an updated note on Monday that the development was "positive."

Peter Bell of Canaccord Genuity wrote in an updated note on Monday that the development was "positive."

"This is the highest-grade hole released to date by the company, hinting at the potential in the Homestake-style targets," Bell wrote.

In a research note update, Agentis Capital said the hole "returned 14 intervals in Homestake (formation)," including "visible gold hosted in quartz-carbonate veins."

"This is the best result to date from Maitland and is sketching in a potential mineralized footprint of +400m by +300m over a vertical extent of +600m," Agentis noted.

The Catalyst: Validating Co.'s Exploration Model

The intercepts "significantly expand the Maitland target area and validate our exploration model for Homestake-style gold mineralization," the company said.

"We are encountering high grades over mineable widths in numerous limbs of Homestake Formation in the Maitland Anticlinorium," said Dakota Gold Vice President Exploration James Berry. "These new intercepts, with more typical orogenic-style gold mineralization, located along the same limb as the JB Gold Zone, are analogous to the West Ledge system at the historic Homestake Mine. This further increases our confidence that we have identified another Homestake Ledge system at Maitland."

More assay results from MA23-026 included 7.78 g/t Au over 6.7 meters, 10.08 g/t Au over 5.7 meters in Homestake-style gold mineralization, and 1.26 g/t over 12.1 meters in a "new Tertiary zone of epithermal gold mineralization in the upper part of the drill hole," Dakota said in a release.

That mineralization is about 500 feet west of the Unionville Zone discovery area and appears to be in a distinct structural zone west and parallel to Unionville.

Dakota said MA23C-026 revealed 14 sample intervals in Homestake Foundation with visible gold between about 2,283 feet and 2,540 feet and an additional occurrence at more than 5,100 feet in the lower portion of the hole.

With additional drilling, Berry said the "new Tertiary zone . . .  could be a new discovery accretive to any mineralization defined in the main Unionville Zone target area."

Mineralization Also Expanding at Richmond Hill

Dakota also recently released results from eight drill holes at its other South Dakota gold project, Richmond Hill. The company said the assays extended the gold mineralization in and around three larger breccia pipes.

The drilling "has extended the gold mineralization in and around the three known larger breccia pipes at Richmond Hill," Dakota noted.

"The Richmond Hill mineral system just keeps getting bigger," Berry said. "Additional exploration to identify and expand mineralization in three known breccia pipes on the property will be incorporated in our future exploration drill program."

This data is not included in ongoing resource estimation work for the Richmond Hill project, so Dakota said it would identify areas that could be added to future resource estimates.

Dakota Gold is exploring the 46,000 acres it has acquired and consolidated over the past decade surrounding the Homestake Mine. Industry giant Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX:TSX; GOLD:NYSE) also backs the company.

Once called the "Richest 100 Square Miles" on Earth, the Homestake Mine was discovered in 1876 and consolidated by George Hearst. Over 126 years, miners extracted 41 million ounces gold (Moz Au) and 9 Moz silver (Ag) from the site.

However, much of the land owned by Dakota Gold has not been explored in nearly 30 years, leaving hope for another major discovery.

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 8.5% or 7.34 million shares, Reuters said. President and CEO Jonathan Awde is next at 7.1%, with 6.18 million shares, while COO Jerry Aberle holds 4.8%, with 4.2 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. A few of the top institutional holders include Fourth Sail Capital with 5.3%, Van Eck Associates with 3.5%, Blackrock Institutional Trust Co. with 3.4%, The Vanguard Group Inc. with about 3%, Fidelity Management and Research Co. LLC with 2.9%, CI Investments, Inc. with 2.8%, and 1832 Asset Management LP with 2.4%.

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

Dakota Gold has a market cap of US$186.93 million, with 86.74 million shares outstanding and about 67.47 million free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of US$3.945 and US$2.00.

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.
3. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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