Latest / Kitco MINING / Dakota Gold Is Funded Through Richmond Hill’s Shovel-Ready Stage | Robert Quartermain

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Dakota Gold Is Funded Through Richmond Hill’s Shovel-Ready Stage | Robert Quartermain · Kitco MINING

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: A new gold mine in an historic gold district.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to Kitco Mining with me, Paul Harris, here with the 2026 Mining Forum Americas in Colorado Springs.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Joining me now is Dr.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Robert Quartermain, co-chair of Dakota Gold, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange American under the ticket DC.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Dr.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Robert, welcome back to Kitco.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Paul, great pleasure to be here.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm looking forward to this because uh a gold development project in the United States at this moment in time with high gold prices, the credible minerals narrative, and the US government really getting behind the mining sector.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: That must be really exciting.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: It is, you know, particularly for Dakota Gold.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: As you pointed out, we're in a historic district, we're in the Home Stake District.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, it was a one of the United States' premier gold mining producing districts.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly over the last 125 years, the Homestake mine itself produced over 40 million ounces.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, adjacent to it, you have the Wharf mine operated by Core, and it's produced over 4 million ounces.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we're targeting Richmond Hill as that next mine in the Home Stake District.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it's exciting to be able to do it at this time of record uh high gold prices because it allows us to be able to attract the talent and be able to, you know, certainly with a strong balance sheet we have, be able to get capital equipment ordered ahead of time and get ourselves well positioned to target our production in 2029.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of the steps that you need to take to achieve that will take place during this administration.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: You've got a pre-feasibility study due before the end of this year.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: You're looking to follow that with a feasibility study in the first half of 2027 and with commercial production slated for 2029.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: I imagine you'll be looking to finance and to start the construction towards the end of this presidential term.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: That would be correct.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we were very fortunate with the run-up in gold price earlier this year that we, through a consortium of bankers, uh raised$75 million.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: So as of June, we had a very strong balance sheet, about$99 million.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that sees us what we consider all the way through to being shovel ready.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're in the fact we're doing feasibility work, it's engineering work, which is expensive, but it's not as expensive of all the drilling that we've done to date to get us to this point.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, as you pointed out, we'll have our pre-feasibility study out by the end of this year.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: That will take into account 900 historic drill holes.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: We've drilled over 350 drill holes.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: We currently are still drilling on the project because of our drill results and metallurgical results.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: We've found some areas that we want to continue to test before we do our full feasibility study.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: But you're true, being on private land in an historic district with the talent we're able to attract to it allows us to have that tempo to be able to move forward and target production in 2029 during the current administration.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: With the drilling you've been doing, will that what impact will that have on the PFS or will that be more in the feasibility study about the potential upside to the project?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's correct.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we currently have the 350 drill holes in the 900 historic, which will inform the pre-feasibility study that we'll have in Q4.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: But as I pointed out, as a result of some of the metallurgical test work, we've done a very extensive program over the last year.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: That has shown us at the southern part of the property, we have a brecia, which actually had recoveries upwards of 90%.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now we haven't spent much time drilling that, so we've moved two drills there.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: We'll drill that and that will therefore be incorporated into the final feasibility study next year.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll continue to grow the asset and contribute to and contribute to the net present value, and we'll do that with this current drilling.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: But the PFS will certainly allow us to define reserves and start looking at the financing opportunities that we can have to get us into production in that timeline.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, with the the PFS that's coming in in a matter of weeks, if not months, months, if not weeks, what will Richland Hill look like in terms of potential throughput, potential production capacity, uh potential production run rate, and uh the capital requirements?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we put our eye with cash flow last July, and that currently is the disclosure document that we're currently working off.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: We identified, you know, resources in excess of two million ounces of gold.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: The key thing about that is the fact that we have a very low strip.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Much of the gold mineralization is located at surface.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so we were targeting a 30,000 ton per day operation to be able to do that, usually in crushing.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: What we've determined is that because there is such a large resource, we're looking putting in a gyrotory crusher.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: So that means you're going to have an increase in capital cost.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: But it does mean that you can increase your run rate, where you can go from instead of 30,000 tons a day, perhaps up to 45,000 and maybe even up to 60,000 tons a day.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: In the IA with cash flow, we were targeting 153,000 ounces of production in the IA with cash flow dealing with the measured and indicated resource.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you look at that and figure that you can improve on it, it's something where with higher grade we've identified now with better recoveries in that 90%, along with additional drilling, that the final feasibility study next year is really going to be able to give a proper assessment of the project and the pre-feasibility is a step along that way.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Dr.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: Robert, I imagine it's a difficult moment of time in which to be advancing studies and trying to put your finger on specific things because um in the United States the president has put tariffs on you know, friend and foe alike, particularly with Canada, for example, the conflict in um the Strait of Hormuz has uh sent fuel prices much higher.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: To what extent can you factor in or are you factoring these things into the plans you're putting in place?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and to what extent does that impact the contingencies that you're putting in place?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because you know, this has evolved rapidly, presumably it will continue to evolve rapidly.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's true.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: In the IWIT cash flow, we had about a$50 million contingency on what was approximately a$400 million capital dust.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: As you've indicated, there are inflationary pressures, and we'll be able to look at that.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: The great thing that I like about our project is because we're in a historic mining district, we're about a 15-minute drive from our head office out to our site.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so when uh you or I were involved in my last project, let's say the Predium Project in Northern British Columbia, lots of infrastructure challenges.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Here there's a road, power, our rate to site.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's 200,000 people who live within the district.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And because we're using conventional crushing, you know, and we're an American company, and most of the uh assets that we're going to require, and probably a lot of the equipment, is going to be made in America, then we'll be able to maybe not perhaps not have those kind of inflationary pressures that you're talking about with TERF because we are a US company using U.S.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: individuals and US equipment uh on the project in South Dakota.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there could be some things that would impact it externally.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: We haven't drilled down on that this to depth.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: We will certainly do that in our final feasibility study.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I think like every mining company, there are inflationary pressures which we're seeing.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: But again, located in a jurisdiction that favors mining with great access, you know, that will certainly help cost down some of the pressures that other peer companies here might be experiencing.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: As you progress towards the moment of execution, will that inform your plans in terms of what things where things are on the critical path, what you need to execute sooner rather than later, perhaps getting uh a greater head start on early works than would otherwise be the case?
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's why we have the strong balance sheet, which has allowed us to bring in Jack Henris, who's our uh uh president and CEO now, uh, and the team that he's putting together.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: These are all mining individuals.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: We're here to put uh Richmond Hill into production, and that will of course will be the only start of what we see as other opportunities in the Home Stake District.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: We have our Maitland project, which is a high grade opportunity, only two miles away.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of what first attracted me into the home stake district.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: But by having the cash, we've actually already started to put down uh deposits on um uh you know the equipment that we would need, certainly a uh substation.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, those things are uh in demand because of AI competition, and we're seeing build out in uh you know space with respect to uh AI farms, and so we've been able to get that already in line.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: So we're that's a three-year advance item.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: So with a strong balance sheet, we can look at these individual components that we need to order now to ensure that we can make our timelines going forward.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And having the experienced team that can go through and look at all of those requirements is great.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I say it's great to have Jack as a miner on side with individuals who worked in mines and understand that pathway to production.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let's take a moment to sort of reflect on that.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Jack Henris has just come on as CEO and president.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: This was very recently announced.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um you're stepping down there, obviously.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh very much a passing of the baton to the person who's actually going to execute and build the mine.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you know, Jack joined us last year as COO and president, and he's shown over the last year's ability to work in the community, get good relationships with the regulators, and build the staff that he needs to be able to go forward.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Jack in his past uh experience had worked in the uh Carlin trend with Newmont, managing their million-ounce year operation with heap bleach and underground.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: So he's certainly got the skill sets that we need.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: He lives in the area and he's been able to hire other good quality individuals who actually live in the um uh in that kind of ecosystem in and around the home state district.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: So it was a fairly easy pass of the baton.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, as I mentioned before, I'm the largest shareholder in Dakota Gold.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I like it because of the fact that we've got 50,000 acres in an historic mining district.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we have at least our next project we see at Maitland coming on that we can follow from cash flow we generate from Richmond Hill and many other opportunities.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: So being back in a jurisdiction where there's been no expiration done since probably 1996, you know, when gold was$200 an ounce and at$400,000, 20 times higher, lots of opportunities for our shareholders here, and I'm just happy to be an owner of the business like our shareholders.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I've got a couple more questions on Richmond Hill before I've got a couple of questions on Maitland for you.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what permitting steps remain for Mitch for Richmond Hill?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we haven't started permitting yet.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're on private land, it means it's relatively prescribed.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: We've met with both the state regulators and as well as those in Lawrence County and talked about what our plans are, and that helps in the discussions informing about the studies they'd like to see.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we will uh put in a large-scale mining permit, which we'll uh probably do towards the end of this year, and that will lay out our plan for Richmond Hill.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact that we've already been in discussions with the regulators, it's not something they'll be surprised about.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's something that we need to work in conjunction with them.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so in that case, with respect to Richmond Hill, because it's on private land in the state of South Dakota, then we do with the state, and then we'll deal with the um uh the local Lawrence County, and that will start the process that uh we expect probably maybe an 18-month permitting process timeline to go through.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be doing that through 2028, expect to get our permits by the end of that, then start construction in 2029 and hopefully be up and running by the end of that year.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Given that you're in an historical uh historic mining district, are there any legacy benefits or or issues regarding the permitting?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I would say the legacy benefits of the infrastructure, right?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because you have power and roads to it.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we drive by the uh existing wharf mine, and that way the regulators are familiar uh with the operations.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: They certainly issue the operating permits for the wharf mine.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got uh a group of um, let's say regulators familiar with mining uh in that jurisdiction.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: And as well, uh we always want to be good citizens, you know, so we want to engage with the public.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: When you think about it, we've got over 40 employees now.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: They all live and work in the home state general district, whether it's spearfish, whether it's Rapid City.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, they want to make sure that they're good stewards, we act well with their neighbors, and because as you well know from your experience, being in existing mining camp is certainly helpful because you get the support from individuals who know kind of the tax base this will generate, the kind of high-end jobs it'll generate.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: So we're very fortunate to be in this space at this point in time when there's a positive of you know mines being developed in the United States.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's going to be good both for the economy, but also for the gold that we use in our everyday lives.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Ms.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Dr.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Robert, you mentioned how you've been able to raise um enough finance to get towards that finance, the final investment decision.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: The company's been well supported.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: In terms of raising the money for the for the mine build, uh talk me through the potential capital stack that you will look to develop.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: It seems that at this moment in time, all financing options are on the table.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody wants to invest in mining.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you could put together your dream capital stack, what would that look like?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Right, we're currently looking at that.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, with the pre-feasibility to study it, we'll have a better defined capital cost structure.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, having been involved in the uh permitting and development of about six mines around the world, you're true.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Picking up that kind of right financing package is going to be uh prudent in order to make sure you get the best value for your shareholders.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: We have a small silver component, so we can do the aspect of maybe doing a silver stream on the project in that regard.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: There's certainly conventional debt financing, as you say.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact we're producing gold, you have companies like Tether out there who are looking at perhaps doing forward sales.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I think we can look at two or three components using the silver, perhaps using forward sales, and then using conventional debt financing that can make an attractive package that's going to be the least elutive for shareholders and allow us to get the project uh in production on our timelines.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds like you might put together something quite exciting and interesting.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm really I'm looking forward to it very much.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, good stuff.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now let's uh bring in Maitland gold.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: You've been uh drilling there, you're targeting a maiden resource by the end of the year.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: What potentially does that add to the bigger picture for you?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right, because of the high grade uh recoveries that we received in the Bretch zone, we actually pulled a few of our drills off of Maitland and are now currently drilling at the Richmond Hill.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll probably postpone that maiden resource into sometime in 2027.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: We've had a few fill holes all of out of it that we announced on Monday, so we're getting positive gold coming from it.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the nice thing with the Maitland project, we have two opportunities.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: There's one at Surface, which we call Unionville, which is kind of an oxide, and it sits over top of the deeper JB zone.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it was the JB zone that certainly got me interested first into the Homestake district.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: We've drilled that over the last uh four years, and we've had some spectacular intersections, you know, four and five meters of like 25 grams of gold.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: So when you look at the West Ledges, which were mine last in the Home Stake mine, they produced about six million ounces from the West Ledges.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: They averaged around 11 grams of gold over six meters.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: We've got about 60 drill holes into the uh JB zone.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: We've got 47 intersections in there, averaging around 11 grams over four meters.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: The geology is identical.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Our geologists who've worked underground, uh certainly in the uh uh in the old mine, say same rocks, so we're a long strike of it.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's just never been explored, right?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because again, when Homestake shut the mine down 25 years ago, gold was$250 an ounce.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the opportunity that we see.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Get Richmond Hill up and running, generate good cash flow from it, and take that cash flow, go over, drill, and then get underground and develop a nice underground resource in the JB zone.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's unique for a project or company such as ours to have two of your development projects, one in the near term, one further along.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Many other companies that run asset are saying, where's our next opportunity going to be?
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Ours is on the way back to derive to the office.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: So very fortunate to have tied the entire district out.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, in terms of the next opportunities for someone, let's get on to that and perhaps a question about MA.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: You have mind building, mind development experience.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: You've also sold a number of projects and companies.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so all options are perhaps on the table, and you've certainly throughout your career shown how or benefited from the the multiple increase of a developer going through the production process and pouring that first ounce.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I would imagine, despite the fact you've got a big producer sitting next door who's sitting on a growing cash pile, you're going to want to hold them off until you've produced that first ounce and got that multiple re-rate, and it will be a much bigger proposition for them, for you, your shareholders.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right, Paul, I'm sure you've seen in your time in the career this change.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know, before it was often companies who would go up, get a project to kind of a feasibility level, then look to sell it.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: We look at the multiples that the operating companies are trading at, you know, sometimes one times, one times, you know, 1.2, 1.3 times nav.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: As a developer, you look at us, we're trading perhaps about 0.3 nav.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we can fund this into production.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: So the best return for our shareholders is over the next three years, put it in production and be able to capture that.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: And as the large shareholder, certainly that's something I'd want to see.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's something we fundamentally have seen change that, you know, if you look at companies like Artemis or Skyna, right?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: They came along, they've developed their own account, they rewarded their shareholders very well.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the uh trajectory that want to be taking for Dakota Gold Knit shareholders is we've got the team to build it, we have the access to capital to build it, and we'll look forward to doing that and then look forward in a few years' time when we can have this conversation again.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing a bit of research for our dear friend Rick Rule on this specific thin, and it's showing that the average valuation jump of going into production and pouring that first ounce is uh four to six times, way above a 40% premium.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what we need to do.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: And again, because of my ownership and many other like-minded shareholders, they want to see us execute.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we brought Jack Henry, that's why he's put the team together.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: We've got a mining operating team, and now it's letting them do their work and target production in 2029.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've had a deep conversation about the projects, Robert.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Let's end with a recap of some of the key catalysts our viewers can expect to see from Dakota Gold over the next 12 months or so.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, fully funded so we can get our projects over ready by, you know, through 2028.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: So this year we're going to have a pre-feasibility study in Q4.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be continuing to drill the Brecher zone, so they're going to be continuing to see drill results come out.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then next year, uh mid-year, we expect to have a full feasibility study and then be launching our filing of our large-scale permit and then starting the permitting process for Richmond Hill.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I wish you the best of luck with that.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Robert Quartermain, thank you very much for joining me this afternoon.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Paul.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Pleasure to be here.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: And once again, Dakota Gold trades on the New York Stock Exchange American under the ticket DC.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: We have a lot more to come from the 2026 Mining Forum Americas, so stay tuned and hit that subscribe button.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Paul Harris, and this is Kitco Mining.