Lahontan Gold drills 90 metres of 0.23 g/t gold at Santa Fe mine project, Nevada
Lahontan Gold Corp. [TSXV: LG; OTCQB: LGCXF] released the results from its 2025 phase one drilling program at the company’s flagship Santa Fe mine project located in Nevada’s prolific Walker Lane. Lahontan completed seven reverse circulation rotary (RC) drill holes totalling 1,210 metres. Significant results include York with 89.9 metres (45.7 to 135.6 m) grading 0.23 g/t gold (YOR25-001R): A very shallow, thick, intercept of oxide gold mineralization that greatly expands the footprint of the York gold zone and confirms the potential to expand the York gold resource along strike and down dip, leveraging the upside value of the recently announced York claim acquisition.
York: A second higher-grade zone at York: 18.3 metres (141.7 to 160.0 m) grading 0.73 g/t Au, including 12.2 metres grading 1.00 g/t Au (YOR25-002R). This drill hole bottomed in oxidized gold mineralized rock and is open up and down dip, and along strike, defining a second gold trend at York.
Slab: 39.6 metres (67.1 to 106.7 m) grading 0.30 g/t Au immediately below the south end of the Slab open pit (CAL25-004R). This drill hole defines a second, strataform, oxide gold horizon that mimics the geometry of the Slab mineral resource defined by prior drilling and confirms a new target for gold resource expansion.
The thick oxide gold intercept correlates with adjacent drill holes demonstrating excellent continuity to gold mineralization and the potential to greatly expand the conceptual pit shell used to constrain the gold mineral resource estimate at York. Note that the true thickness of the gold intercept is approximately equal to the drilled interval.
The 2025 phase one RC drilling program was intended to confirm multiple target concepts in the York and Slab gold resource areas at the Santa Fe mine project. Based on the very positive results described in more detail below, the company is in the process of planning additional drilling at both York and Slab for later this year.
York Drilling: Both RC drill holes completed at York successfully defined new extensions to known oxide gold mineral resources. As shown above, YOR25-001R confirmed the down-dip continuity of shallow oxide gold mineralization east of the York open pit along the Columbia fault. Gold mineralization in the drill hole shows excellent correlation with previous drilling, in both thickness and gold grade. As noted above, oxide gold mineralization is open to the north where the gold zone appears to become shallower, and to the south, where mineralization is unconstrained by drilling. Importantly, the newly acquired York claims provide ample room for further oxide gold resource expansion, without the constraint of a claim boundary.
YOR25-002R is particularly interesting as it validates the geologic model for the York fault, an important north-south-striking fault that is a key control for gold mineralization in the York area. YOR25-002R bottomed in good grade oxide gold mineralization (1.0 g/t Au) that may correlate to the gold zone defined in YOR25-001R, and is likely the upper portion of a much thicker gold zone: another target for resource expansion drilling in the fall. The York fault gold system remains open up dip, down dip and along strike.
These two drill holes at York underscore the potential to greatly expand the York gold resource and demonstrate the considerable upside of the York area at Santa Fe, amplified by the recently acquired new claims at York.
Combined with the results from YOR25-001R, the drilling confirms the potential to expand the York conceptual pit shell as shown in red. YOR25-002R bottomed in oxide gold mineralization grading 1.0 g/t AuEq (gold equivalent). This intercept may correlate with the thick zone defined by YOR25-002R and therefore defines an excellent target for future resource expansion drilling.
Slab Drilling: Lahontan completed five RC drill holes in the Slab gold resource area. All the drill holes cut oxide gold mineralization (please see table), however the results for drill holes CAL25-003R and -004R are very encouraging, defining a new, stacked zone of oxide gold mineralization below the resource defined by previous drilling and the Slab open pit.
CAL25-004R cut 39.6 metres grading 0.30 g/t Au and 1.2 g/t Ag (0.31 g/t Au Eq, see table), all oxide, and directly below gold mineralization seen in the Slab open pit and defined by historic drilling, providing an excellent opportunity to expand the conceptual pit shell at Slab. Additional drilling along strike and northwest of CAL25-004R (left in section) can add to potential gold resources at Slab and improve future project economics.
The other drill holes at Slab, CAL25-001R through -003R all hit zones of gold mineralization and will require additional drilling to refine drill targets for future resource expansion.
Kimberly Ann, CEO, executive chair and founder, commented: “Lahontan is excited with the results from phase one drilling at Santa Fe. In particular, the results from the York area, thick, shallow intercepts of oxide gold mineralization, highlight the tremendous upside potential of York, amplified by the recent expansion of our land package at York. We are in the process of designing a phase two drilling program for York and Slab, to take place in the fall.”
Lahontan Gold holds, through its United States subsidiaries, four top-tier gold and silver exploration properties in the Walker Lane of Nevada. Lahontan’s flagship property, the 26.4 km2 Santa Fe mine project, had past production of 359,202 ounces of gold and 702,067 ounces of silver between 1988 and 1995 from open pit mines utilizing heap leach processing.
The Santa Fe mine has a NI 43-101-compliant indicated mineral resource of 1,539,000 oz AuEq (48,393,000 tonnes grading 0.92 g/t Au and 7.18 g/t Ag, together grading 0.99 g/t Au Eq) and an inferred mineral resource of 411,000 oz AuEq (16.76 million grading 0.74 g/t Au and 3.25 g/t Ag, together grading 0.76 g/t Au Eq), all pit constrained.
The company plans to continue advancing the Santa Fe mine project toward production, update the Santa Fe preliminary economic assessment and drill test its satellite West Santa Fe project during 2025.
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