Disseminated on behalf of Lahontan Gold Corp. (TSX.V: LG) (OTCQB: LGCXF) and may include paid advertising.
A gold price above $4,100 an ounce does little for a developer that cannot say when it will build, which makes the timeline the real story for companies still short of production. Dual-listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and OTCQB, Lahontan Gold (TSX.V: LG) (OTCQB: LGCXF) is telling that story with a date attached, and in a recent CEO.CA interview, founder and CEO Kimberly Ann walked through the steps that keep its 2027 construction target on track. The company is a Nevada-focused mine developer advancing four gold and silver projects in the Walker Lane, led by the planned restart of the past-producing Santa Fe Mine.
Gold is holding at historically high levels while trading well off its peak. Spot gold was at $4,183.13 an ounce in early October, after hitting what CNBC reported as a two-month low. Gold’s record remains the $5,597.23 reached on January 29, 2026, and CNBC reported that traders were pricing an 82% probability of a Federal Reserve rate increase in December.
That backdrop matters for Lahontan because of the assumptions beneath the numbers. The company’s updated mineral resource estimate (“MRE”), announced August 17, outlined 1,195,000 gold-equivalent ounces in the indicated category and 1,190,000 in the inferred category, all pit constrained, a 22% increase over the 2024 estimate. It was calculated at $3,250 gold, more than $900 below last week’s spot price. Santa Fe previously produced 359,202 ounces of gold and 702,067 ounces of silver between 1988 and 1995 from open pits with heap-leach processing.
The CEO.CA conversation opened with the transaction. On September 16, Lahontan announced a definitive agreement to acquire Emergent Metals Corp., a deal that gives it 100% of West Santa Fe, eliminates approximately $1.73 million in future payments, ends 1% net smelter return royalties on West Santa Fe and 27 York claims at Santa Fe, and adds the adjoining New York Canyon project. Completion remains subject to Emergent shareholders, with a vote expected in November, court and TSX Venture Exchange approvals.
“We are looking at strategic opportunities to grow our land package on a low-cost basis,” Ann stated. “This transaction is about 4% dilution to our shareholders,” observing that the ground around the company’s existing pits drove the timing. “My team has found so much more mineralization that it was going to be problematic later and needing a layback for those pits,” she continued. “So, I wanted to pull the trigger earlier than later.”
Regarding permitting, Ann said the work has been under way for three and a half years and that an updated preliminary economic assessment is due “in the next couple weeks.” She described it as an engineering document not a promotional one, looking at “where are we putting the pads? How much dust we’re kicking up? How much rock we’re moving?” Those details are required, she explained, “because it’s the last component of our application for a mine permit . . . [which] will set us up for having our permit in Q2 of next year.” Lahontan’s website lists Nevada state permitting as in progress, a federal Mine Plan of Operations as the next step and construction targeted for 2027.
At West Santa Fe, where Lahontan mobilized a drill rig last month for approximately 3,500 meters of drilling in 20 holes, Ann said the appeal is simple: “It’s all oxide. It starts at the surface. It’s 13 kilometers away.” She outlined two options, trucking material to Santa Fe for crushing and processing with “virtually no capex” or adding leach pads on site if drilling outlines enough ounces. Baseline studies began about nine months ago, she noted, “because we know it’s going to take two years in baseline studies.” The company is targeting a maiden resource by year-end.
Ann also addressed the build. Lahontan recently added a vice president of exploration, a senior mine engineer and an investor relations and business development lead, and named a new chief financial officer. The 2024 economic study estimated preproduction capital at $135.1 million, including a 20% contingency, and Ann said she does not expect the updated figure to rise much. The company plans to fund roughly 80% with debt and the rest with equity. “A straight debt deal is really advantageous when your payback is less than a year and a half,” she observed.
“Next year we’re going to be pouring gold,” Ann continued, adding that the company will tell investors if a timeline changes. “I like full transparency to shareholders because nobody likes it when they hear silence for six months,” she said.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LahontanGoldCorp.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LGCXF are available in the company’s newsroom at ibn.fm/LGCXF
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