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Dakota Gold – Richmond Hill 2026 Drill Program Completed, Upcoming Resource Estimate & PFS In Q4

The KE Report Jul 15, 2026

Summary

Richmond Hill's 2026 drilling is finished, with an updated resource, PFS and possible reserve conversion all due in Q4.

A $107 million February raise funds construction to shovel-ready, and already secures the scarce power substation build slot.

AISC (All-In Sustaining Cost — what it really costs to produce an ounce) sits at $1,047, with initial capital of $384 million.

Management's value levers are pulling high grade forward, doubling crusher throughput, and holding the mine plan inside private land.

Production is targeted for 2029, with feasibility in the first half of 2027 and a maiden Maitland resource due around Q1 2027.

Key points on Agnico Eagle Mines

  • The host cites Agnico Eagle's recent acquisition in Finland as one of the industry takeovers he believes valued ground at $600-700 per ounce, which he contrasts with the roughly $85 per ounce he says Dakota Gold trades at.

Key points on G Mining Ventures

  • Named in the same transaction comparison, with the host citing what G Mining did in Guyana as a recent deal he says priced ground at $600-700 per ounce.

Key points on Dakota Gold

  • Jack Henris and Shawn Campbell say the now-complete 2026 drill program (17,273 m across 112 holes, combined with 2025 drilling) feeds a Pre-Feasibility Study due in Q4 2026 that could carry reserves, with a Feasibility Study targeted for the first half of 2027 and production before the end of the decade.
  • Henris says northeast expansion drilling is intercepting grades far above the project's 0.556 g/t average, including a press-release hit of almost 300 gram-metres about 580 m north and 730 m east-west beyond the current measured-and-indicated boundary, outside the pit shell used in the earlier study; the PFS trade-off studies will test mining those pockets early and scaling the plant from a 30,000 t/d jaw crusher toward a gyratory of up to 60,000 t/d, with 45,000 t/d as a possible midpoint.
  • The existing SK-1300 Internal Assessment of Cash Flow is quoted at $384M initial capital including a $50M contingency, $1,047/oz all-in sustaining cost, a roughly 17-year life producing about 2.6M oz of gold and 9M oz of silver, an after-tax NPV at 5% of $1.6B and a 55% IRR at $2,350/oz gold.
  • Campbell says $107M of cash at 31 March 2026, from a $75M February raise of under 10% dilution, funds the project to shovel-ready and has already secured the power substation build slot with a 24-month lead time that could stretch to 36; he attributes the low capital cost to power, water and road access already in place on about 3,000 acres of private land and a strip ratio under 1:1.
  • Henris says drilling at the Maitland underground project started in July 2026, with 5,578 m planned over 44 holes to define a maiden resource in the first half of 2027; 47 of 70 holes drilled at the JB zone averaged about 11 g/t over 4 m and the shallower Unionville zone runs about 4 g/t over 6 m.

Jack Henris's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Henris argues the project's roughly $384M capital cost is structural rather than optimistic: power, water and road access already exist, the strip ratio is under 1:1, the six pits are only about 200 ft deep at worst, and the three-stage crush to half inch mirrors the neighbouring Wharf mine, making the operation simple to execute from both a mining and processing standpoint.
  • He says the northeast expansion intercepts run far above the 0.556 g/t average grade of the resource, including the nearly 300 gram-metre hit, and he sees real value in trade-off studies that would mine those pockets in the first years instead of processing the average grade every year as the earlier study assumed.
  • He identifies two levers he believes can move the economics: pulling grade forward and replacing the 30,000 t/d jaw crusher with a gyratory capable of up to 60,000 t/d, which would change the production profile materially.
  • He is looking for ways to compress the roughly 17-year mine schedule, and argues a dedicated heap-leach pad, rather than cycling ore on and off pads as some peers do, lets material leach to ultimate recovery, with Merrill-Crow processing as an option for recovering the project's silver more effectively.
  • He calls the Maitland targets a significant secondary deposit that could extend the project's life, noting the drilling program started after geotechnical work at Richmond Hill finished.

Shad Markwitz's takeaways

  • Top takeaway As host, Markwitz frames the discussion around the Q4 2026 PFS and the claim that a PEA-to-PFS step with real levers, grade-forward sequencing and throughput, should grow the project's value rather than merely restate it.
  • He discloses that he is a Dakota Gold shareholder and repeatedly presses management on why the company is not valued two or three times higher, and he points to Maitland as blue-sky upside he thinks investors are under-appreciating.