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, with drilling confirming significant gold and silver mineralization in a historic low-grade stockpile. The stockpile, adjacent to Heap Leach Pad Two, contains readily accessible material that the company believes may be suitable for low-cost future reprocessing. Cyanide-extractable gold assays averaging more than 30% indicate favorable heap-leach characteristics, substantially exceeding the material's original classification.
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. The 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. For more details, see the full press release at https://ibn.fm/a0odu.
The Santa Fe Mine, located in the Walker Lane of Nevada, 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 project 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. 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.
These results are particularly important as they suggest that material previously considered low-grade may actually contain economically viable gold and silver grades, potentially expanding the resource base and improving project economics. The favorable cyanide extraction results also indicate that the stockpile material could be processed efficiently using existing heap-leach infrastructure, reducing capital requirements for a potential restart. For ongoing updates, visit the company's newsroom at http://ibn.fm/LGCXF.
The technical content of this news release and the company's technical disclosure 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. The company's flagship property, the 26.4 km² Santa Fe Mine project, remains a key asset in Lahontan's portfolio, and these drilling results underscore the potential for near-term production from previously overlooked sources.
