Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
November 09, 2026
Lahontan Gold to Drill Test Historic Waste Rock at Santa Fe Mine
TLDR
- Lahontan Gold plans to drill test the Santa Fe East WRSF, potentially adding early production and improving economics of the Santa Fe Mine project.
- The drill program will use up to 100 RC holes averaging 35 meters to evaluate gold and silver distribution in 9 million tonnes of historic waste rock.
- Lahontan Gold's re-processing of historic waste rock could recover valuable metals while reducing environmental impact from past mining operations.
- Lahontan Gold will test whether waste rock from 1988-1992 mining contains recoverable gold and silver, potentially turning waste into resource.
Impact - Why it Matters
This news matters because it highlights a potentially low-cost opportunity to recover gold and silver from material previously considered waste at the Santa Fe Mine. If the drill program confirms economic grades, Lahontan Gold could add a near-term source of production that leverages existing infrastructure and improves the project's economics. For investors, this could signal a path to enhanced cash flow and resource growth without significant additional capital expenditure. The program also demonstrates the company's innovative approach to maximizing value from historical mining assets, which could serve as a model for other projects in the Walker Lane and beyond. As gold and silver prices remain volatile, projects with the potential to produce at low costs are particularly attractive, and this initiative could position Lahontan Gold favorably in the competitive mining sector.
Summary
Lahontan Gold Corp. (TSX.V: LG) (OTCQB: LGCXF) has unveiled plans to drill test the historic Santa Fe East Waste Rock Storage Facility (WRSF) at its flagship Santa Fe Mine Project in Nevada’s Walker Lane. The proposed program will consist of up to 100 reverse-circulation (RC) drill holes averaging approximately 35 meters in depth, targeting an estimated 9 million tonnes of waste rock generated during mining operations between 1988 and 1992. With a historic mining cutoff grade of approximately 0.55 grams per tonne gold, the company believes material previously classified as waste may contain recoverable gold and silver mineralization suitable for heap leach processing. The drill program will evaluate the distribution, tonnage and precious metal grades of the stored material to assess its potential contribution to future production.
Lahontan noted that its recently announced preliminary economic assessment (PEA) already includes moving the Santa Fe East WRSF to access underlying gold and silver resources. Recovering precious metals from this material could provide an additional source of production early in the mine life and potentially improve the economics of the Santa Fe development plan. As reported by Rocks & Stocks, the company continues to advance 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. 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. Its 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 and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 411,000 oz Au Eq, all pit constrained. For more information, visit www.lahontangoldcorp.com.
This news comes on the heels of the company’s recently filed Technical Report for the Santa Fe Project, which outlines the PEA and mineral resource estimates. The proposed drill program is designed to confirm the company’s hypothesis that the historic waste rock contains economically recoverable gold and silver, which could be processed through the existing heap leach infrastructure. If successful, the program could add a low-cost source of production and enhance the overall viability of the Santa Fe Mine. The announcement was disseminated on behalf of Lahontan Gold Corp. and may include paid advertising.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content distributed by InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN). Read the original source here, Lahontan Gold to Drill Test Historic Waste Rock at Santa Fe Mine
