Lahontan Gold Corp. (TSXV:LG) has refreshed the fundamentals of its flagship Santa Fe Mine, a former open-pit heap-leach operation in Nevada’s Walker Lane. The historic pit produced 359,202 ounces of gold and 702,067 ounces of silver between 1988 and 1994, but the latest indicated mineral resource now totals 31.15 Mt grading 0.99 g/t AuEq for 993,000 gold-equivalent ounces. An inferred component adds another 41.60 Mt at 0.71 g/t AuEq, yielding 954,000 AuEq ounces. The August 2026 update represents a 22 percent increase over the 2024 estimate and introduces separate oxide, transitional and sulfide categories.
Resource breakdown and new oxide-sulfide delineation
Within the revised model, the indicated oxide and transitional resource comprises 15.9 million tonnes at 0.57 g/t Au, while the indicated sulfide portion accounts for 15.2 million tonnes at 1.24 g/t Au. These zones sit directly in the high-wall and pit-bottoms, where competent wall rock supports stable 50-degree slopes, offering an attractive mining envelope for future open-pit development.
Exploration momentum: waste-rock, Calvada and West Santa Fe
In November 2026 the company disclosed a targeted up-to-100 reverse-circulation (RC) hole program to interrogate the historic Santa Fe East Waste-Rock Storage Facility (WRSF). The WRSF holds roughly 9.0 million tonnes of material removed during the 1988-1992 mining phase. The drill plan—averaging 35 m depth per hole—will map grade distribution and assess the feasibility of processing this waste via heap leach, potentially turning a by-product into early-stage cash flow.
Simultaneously, deep core drilling at the Calvada deposit, situated beneath the conceptual pit boundary, intercepted 90.8 m grading 0.44 g/t AuEq oxide, confirming that the mineralized envelope extends further down-dip than previously modeled. Step-out work in 2026 also uncovered a new zone dubbed “West Slab,” delivering unconstrained intercepts of 35.0 m at 0.34 g/t AuEq and 61.0 m at 0.26 g/t AuEq, hinting at lateral expansion potential.
Just 13 km west of the main complex, the satellite West Santa Fe project spans 19 km² of surface-proximate mineralization. Twin-hole RC drilling (WSF25-04R) reported 36.6 m grading 3.11 g/t AuEq from the surface, with a high-grade interval of 10.7 m at 5.75 g/t AuEq in completely oxidized material. Metallurgical tests show historic column-leach recoveries of 70 % for gold and 50 % for silver, while recent cyanide extractions exceeded expectations with 81 % Au and 60 % Ag recoveries, supporting the concept of a low-cost, open-pit satellite that can feed directly into the flagship plant.
The high-grade Moho Mine, another Walker Lane satellite, remains an underground asset that historically yielded 25 g/t gold and 300 g/t silver. Although not the focus of the current drilling campaign, Moho provides a complementary high-grade target that could be leveraged alongside the larger oxide-lean operations.
Economic outlook and project metrics
The updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) projects an 11-year mine life with an average annual output of 91,900 gold-equivalent ounces, rising to 112,500 AuEq ounces from years 4 through 11. At base-case metal prices of US$3,600/oz for gold and US$49/oz for silver, the study delivers a post-tax NPV of US$820 million (5 % discount) and an IRR of 40.1 %. Total after-tax life-of-mine cash flow is estimated at US$1.32 billion. Operating economics include cash costs of US$1,909/oz and an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$2,250/oz. Pre-production capital is capped at US$172 million, incorporating a 20 % contingency, and the payback period is projected at 3.7 years.
Leadership driving the development
Chief Executive Kimberly Ann, who has raised over US$300 million for junior resources and previously led Prodigy Gold’s $340 million sale to Argonaut Gold, chairs the board and steers the overall strategy. Senior Vice President Brian Maher, a certified professional geologist, brings sixteen years of experience from ASARCO and former CEO duties at Prodigy Gold. Exploration Vice President Tony Gesualdo, a structural and economic geologist with tenures at Coeur Mining and Barrick Gold, was instrumental in the original Santa Fe resource model. CFO Billy Choi, with a background in public-company finance and recent service at Lithium Royalty Corp, oversees capital allocation and reporting.
With the resource upgrade, the waste-rock test program, and continued satellite development, Lahontan positions the Santa Fe complex to become a cornerstone of Nevada-based gold production, potentially delivering low-cost ounces early in the mine life while preserving flexibility for future expansion.
