Cambrian Unconformity Project
The Cambrian Unconformity Project was previously called the Homestake Paleoplacer project in all earlier reporting. The project name was changed to Cambrian Unconformity project in order to better describe the potential mineral targets which include Cambrian paleoplacer gold deposits, Tertiary epithermal gold mineralization along the Cambrian Unconformity associated with dikes, sills and crosscutting Tertiary-age veins and breccias and Tertiary replacement deposits in the Basal Deadwood Formation which overlie the Cambrian Unconformity.
The Cambrian Unconformity claims consist of a total of 14 unpatented mineral claims (110 acres) and approximately 253 patented surface and mineral acres for a total of 363 mineral acres covering approximately 5,700 feet of the projected northward extension of the Homestake-area paleoplacer channel trend in the western portion of Lawrence County, South Dakota, USA. More specifically the claims lie within the Black Hills Meridian, Township 5N, Range3E covering portions of Sections 20 and 21.
Dakota Gold acquired its original 14 unpatented Cambrian Unconformity claims from Black Hills Gold Exploration LLC in December 2012. Dakota Gold owns a 100% interest in the 14 unpatented claims with no known encumbrance of any kind. There are no known private surface rights owners within the bounds of the property with all surface rights under the control of the US Forest Service. The annual claim maintenance fee totals $2,310.
In February 2014, Dakota Gold entered into an agreement to acquire surface and mineral title to 26.16 acres of the Squaw and Rubber Neck Lodes that comprise Mineral Survey 1706 in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The property is located immediately to the north and adjoining Dakota Gold's 14 original unpatented claims group and was explored by Homestake Mining Company in the 1980s.
In March 2014, Dakota Gold successfully closed a transaction with Deadbroke Mining Company, Inc. to purchase approximately 565.24 mineral acres in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota. As part of the acquisition, Dakota Gold purchased an additional 64.39 mineral acres located immediately southwest and contiguous to Dakota Gold's original unpatented claims group, including the historical Gustin, Minerva and Deadbroke Gold Mines.
In April 2017, Dakota Gold added an additional 141 acres of mineral property to the Cambrian Unconformity claims through an Exploration and Mining Lease and Option to Purchase Property Agreement with Trucano Novelty Inc. of South Dakota. The property acquisition is located immediately north and contiguous to the original Cambrian Unconformity claims.
Access to the project is gained by traveling 0.75 miles west-northwest from Central City along the Maitland Road (Forest Service 195). Alternately, the area can be accessed by traveling approximately 1.75 miles west-northwest from the City of Deadwood on the Mount Roosevelt Road (Forest Service 133).
Tertiary-age rhyolite intrusive rocks dominate the outcrop on the Cambrian Unconformity project, along with limited outcrops of Cambrian Deadwood formation contained within the rhyolite intrusive. The rhyolite is in the form of a sill/laccolith, 50 to 500 feet thick, that overlies the basal quartz pebble conglomerate units of Deadwood formation and the extensions of gold bearing paleoplacer sourced from the Homestake Lode.
Dakota Gold's Cambrian Unconformity project include the past producing Gustin, Minerva and Deadbroke Mines, which were the last three mines that produced from the channel and are located furthest to the north at the point where the channel disappears under the cover of the younger Cambrian sedimentary and Tertiary igneous rocks. The Deadbroke Mine began operations in the earliest days of the 1870s Black Hills Gold Rush and continued to produce gold through the 1920s by underground room and pillar methods at depths ranging from 100 to 200 feet below surface.
In 1973, Homestake Mining Company entered into a mining lease on the Deadbroke property, based on interest generated by a report authored by Homestake Geologist, Ross R. Grunwald and titled "Ore Potential of The Deadbroke Mine and Other Northern Black Hills Conglomerate Ores." In 1974, Homestake dewatered the Deadbroke Mine and conducted a comprehensive mine mapping and sampling program. A total of 214 channel samples were collected by Homestake geologists from the perimeter of accessible stope and development headings, as well as from pillars left in stopes. The results of the 1974 Deadbroke Mine sampling program led to a subsequent 27-hole drill program in the 1980s designed to explore for the extension of the paleochannel north of the Deadbroke Mine.
Dakota Gold drilled 6 drill holes on this property in 2022 to test for Cambrian placer gold deposits. Although no significant gold results were returned, the geology identified in the drilling led to a significant re-interpretation of the Precambrian basement rocks, as well as the paleochannel geometry below the Cambrian Unconformity. This new information will be incorporated and used for future targeting on the Cambrian Unconformity Property as well as the adjoining City Creek Project.
