Lahontan Gold Corp. (TSX.V: LG) (OTCQB: LGCXF) has reported initial results from its 2026 Sonic core drilling program at the Santa Fe Mine Project, confirming significant gold and silver mineralization in a historic low-grade stockpile. The company announced that drilling returned grades substantially exceeding the material's original classification, with cyanide-extractable gold assays averaging more than 30%, indicating favorable heap-leach characteristics. The stockpile, located adjacent to Heap Leach Pad Two, contains readily accessible material that the company believes may be suitable for low-cost future reprocessing.
The nearly 100-hole Sonic drilling program has now concluded across the site's four historic heap leach pads, with results from six additional holes in the low-grade stockpile expected shortly. This program is designed to define resources remaining in historic heap leach pads and stockpiles that could provide a lower-cost source of future processing material as the company advances its goal of restarting production at the Santa Fe Mine in 2027.
Lahontan Gold Corp. is a Canadian mine development and mineral exploration company that holds, through its US subsidiaries, four top-tier gold and silver exploration properties in the Walker Lane of mining-friendly Nevada. The 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 Canadian National Instrument 43-101 compliant Indicated Mineral Resource of 1,539,000 oz Au Eq (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 Au Eq (16,760,000 tonnes grading 0.74 g/t Au and 3.25 g/t Ag, together grading 0.76 g/t Au Eq), all pit constrained (Au Eq is inclusive of recovery, as detailed in the Santa Fe Project Technical Report).
This discovery is significant for the mining industry and investors as it suggests that previously overlooked stockpiles may contain economically viable grades, potentially reducing the capital required for future production. For Lahontan Gold, higher-than-expected grades in readily accessible material could accelerate the timeline to restarting operations and improve project economics. The company plans to continue advancing the Santa Fe Mine project towards production, update the Santa Fe Preliminary Economic Assessment, and drill test its satellite West Santa Fe project during 2025.
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Michael Lindholm, CPG, Independent Consulting Geologist to Lahontan Gold Corp., who is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. For more information, visit the company's website at www.lahontangoldcorp.com. The latest news and updates relating to LGCXF are available in the company's newsroom at http://ibn.fm/LGCXF.
