Dakota Gold Corp. is advancing one of the largest undeveloped gold assets in the United States
Dakota Gold Corp. is advancing one of the largest undeveloped gold assets in the United States currently held by a junior company, with its flagship Richmond Hill project in South Dakota demonstrating a combination of scale, economics, and jurisdictional advantages that are increasingly scarce in the global gold development universe. The project sits entirely on private land in Lawrence County, within a long-established mining district, and directly adjacent to the Wharf Mine, which has been operating for more than four decades. This location provides a meaningful reduction in permitting, infrastructure, and operating risk relative to greenfield developments, while offering a real-world analogue for both cost structure and processing assumptions.
The Company completed an initial economic assessment in July 2025, outlining robust after-tax economics under conservative pricing assumptions. Using a gold price of $2,350 per ounce, the Richmond Hill project generates an after-tax NPV (5%) of approximately $1.6 billion based on measured and indicated resources, increasing to roughly $2.1 billion when inferred material is incorporated into the mine plan. Corresponding internal rates of return range from approximately 55% to 59%, with mine life extending from 17 years under the measured and indicated case to as long as 28 years when inferred resources are included. Average annual gold production is estimated at roughly 150,000 ounces, with life-of-mine production approaching four million ounces in the expanded case. All-in sustaining costs are projected at approximately $1,050 per ounce, placing Richmond Hill firmly in the lower half of the global cost curve.
Importantly, the economic profile of the project exhibits substantial sensitivity to higher gold prices. At current spot prices in the $3,000–$3,300 per ounce range, the Company estimates that after-tax NPV expands to approximately $2.9 billion, while the internal rate of return approaches 100% and capital payback compresses to roughly one year. This level of operating leverage is driven by a combination of modest initial capital requirements, low operating costs, and a production profile that delivers strong early cash flows. The initial capital requirement, including contingency, is estimated at approximately $384 million, a level considered financeable within the current precious metals project finance market, particularly given the project’s jurisdiction and economics.
From a technical standpoint, Richmond Hill is designed as an open-pit, heap-leach operation utilizing three-stage crushing and Merrill–Crowe recovery. The flowsheet and throughput assumptions are closely aligned with those used at the neighboring Wharf Mine, which processes approximately 10–12 million tonnes per year and has consistently produced around 100,000 ounces of gold annually while generating significant free cash flow. Dakota Gold’s proximity to Wharf allows the Company to benchmark operating costs, recoveries, and logistics against an operating mine with similar geology and metallurgy, lending credibility to the assumptions embedded in the economic model.
The mineral resource base at Richmond Hill is substantial, with 3.6 million ounces of gold in the measured and indicated categories and an additional 2.6 million ounces inferred, alongside meaningful silver credits. The size and continuity of the mineralized system allow for phased development, with mining expected to progress from north to south across the property over the life of the operation. Ongoing drilling is focused both on metallurgical optimization and on higher-grade zones in the northern portion of the deposit, particularly in the Chisholm Gulch area. Recent drill results have returned intercepts significantly above the average modeled grade, suggesting potential for improved early-year production and incremental enhancements to project economics as the asset advances toward feasibility.
Beyond Richmond Hill, Dakota Gold also controls the Maitland project, which lies along the Homestake Formation, the same geological unit that hosted the historic Homestake Mine, one of the most prolific gold producers in North American history. While Maitland is not included in current economic models, management views it as long-term, high-grade optionality that could materially enhance the Company’s value proposition over time.
From a development and financing perspective, Dakota Gold is relatively well positioned. The Company ended its most recent financing with approximately $47 million in cash and maintains a manageable annual exploration and development budget. In parallel, it has received a non-binding indicative proposal from Orion Mine Finance for up to $300 million in project financing, providing early validation of the asset’s quality and a potential pathway to construction funding with limited equity dilution. Management is targeting completion of a feasibility study in the 2026–2027 timeframe, followed by permitting, a construction decision in 2028, and first production in 2029.
Overall, Dakota Gold represents a rare combination of scale, economics, jurisdictional quality, and leverage to gold prices within the junior development space. While execution risks remain typical of projects transitioning from study to construction, the Richmond Hill project’s location on private land, proximity to operating infrastructure, strong base-case economics, and significant upside at current gold prices position the Company as a compelling development-stage gold opportunity as it advances toward production.