Dakota Gold Corp.

Dakota Gold has 100% ownership of 2,147 unpatented claims and a combination of surface leases and/or ownership covering a total of approximately 49,546 acres located in the Homestake District in Black Hills of South Dakota. These properties include Maitland, the Barrick Option property and the Richmond Hill Project upon exercise of each of their underlying option agreements.

As of December 31, 2025, Dakota Gold has not established mineral reserves within the meaning of S-K 1300 on any of its properties and the Company is therefore in the exploration stage and has not commenced amortization of its claims or leases. All exploration expenditures are expensed as incurred.

The aggregated individual claims, properties, options, and leases are referred to herein as the “Black Hills Property”. The map shown below shows the location of the Black Hills Property.

Detail Map Showing Claims and Leases of the Black Hills Property

Prior to 2022, exploration by Dakota Gold on its properties has been limited to field sampling programs, field mapping programs, geophysical surveys, and a campaign to acquire historical data sets that were known to exist for its property and the balance of the greater Homestake District. In late January 2022, Dakota Gold started its first drilling program and has since expanded its drilling programs to key project areas.

A large portion of the important historical data has been acquired, digitized, and assembled into a new database in electronic form. In the case of historical geophysical data, the data has or is being digitized and reprocessed. Exploration data compilation is an ongoing activity as Homestake District-wide historical information is constantly being identified and incorporated from historical Homestake data acquired as part of land option agreements and from local public archival sources. This historical information is being augmented by active data collection in the field thru mapping, sampling and using remote geophysical methods.

Exploration plans and budgets have been prepared for the Richmond Hill and Maitland project areas. Maitland and Richmond Hill properties currently have permits that have been authorized by the South Dakota Division of Environment and Natural Resources (“SDDANR”). Current exploration plans may be modified pending the ongoing modeling and interpretation of the Company’s airborne magnetic and radiometric survey data acquired in 2020 and 2021 and an IP-Resistivity survey completed at Richmond Hill in 2022. Dakota Gold’s technical team continues to model using its geophysics, geology and geochemistry data sets to improve its ability to map and project lithology and structure in covered areas and/or where the company has less historical data.

Dakota Gold’s Black Hills Property has well-developed power infrastructure. All of Dakota Gold’s claims and leases have power on the property now or have nearby access to power with the potential to be upgraded for production if exploration proves successful.

The Homestake District is a favorable geologic gold setting with three unique gold deposit types that have yielded approximately 45 million ounces of gold production over the past 140 years, including Proterozoic-age Homestake iron-formation hosted gold deposits, Tertiary-age replacement gold deposits and Cambrian paleoplacer gold deposits.

Dakota Gold has based the acquisition of its Black Hills claims, surface and mineral acreage and lease position on more than 50 years of combined mining and exploration experience in the Homestake Mining Company and the knowledge gained from previous exploration and mining efforts. Dakota Gold believes that its properties hold exploration targets for all three gold deposit types known to exist in the Homestake District.

The Homestake District has well-developed infrastructure and an existing experienced mining and exploration workforce. South Dakota’s regulatory authorities have historically demonstrated a willingness to work with responsible operators to permit well-planned, compliant projects, and South Dakota’s exploration and mining regulations are reasonable and comparable to other mining jurisdictions within the United States.

Dakota Gold’s business strategy is to advance the Richmond Hill gold resource towards eventual production and to discover another Homestake-style deposit in the iron-formation host that is distributed across the Homestake District. In addition, Dakota Gold will evaluate and explore for large Tertiary gold deposits, including a potential resource at the Unionville Zone, of which there are several deposit styles known to exist in the Northern Black Hills. Dakota Gold continues to expand its land position in the Homestake District with the objective of simultaneously developing gold targets that could be brought into production in the near term.

On April 30, 2024, the Company announced an initial mineral resource estimate under S-K 1300 for the Richmond Hill Project. The mineral resource estimate was derived from a historical database containing 69,401 gold assays from more than 900 drill holes, including 57 drill holes from Dakota Gold’s own drill program completed prior to October 5, 2023.

The Company released an updated S-K 1300 mineral resource estimate for the Richmond Hill Project on February 6, 2025. This updated resource is informed by a historical database containing 56,734 gold assays from 902 drill holes totaling 90,447 meters (296,743 feet) of drilling, and an additional 30,743 gold and silver assays from 146 drill holes totaling 45,540 meters (149,410 feet) of drilling by Dakota Gold. Note that the S-K 1300 database consisted of 910 historical holes (299,888 feet) and 148 Dakota Gold holes (157,504 feet) but 8 historical holes and 2 Dakota Gold holes were outside of the model limits so were not used in the S-K 1300. The resource established in the February 2025 IA was used for the IACF released in July 2025.

The Company has an overall land package of over 49,500 acres, with approximately 13,200 acres of private land and the remainder of Dakota Gold’s property position is held under unpatented, federal mining claims on US Forest Service (“USFS”) or Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) administered lands. Federal unpatented mining claims have annual claim maintenance fees of $200 per claim and are due before September 1st of each year.

For exploration work on unpatented mining claims, notice must be filed with and approved by the USFS or BLM, and the SDDANR prior to undertaking any exploration activities. The notice describes the proposed exploration activities and any remedial reclamation deemed necessary. The various government agencies review the application to ensure there will be no deleterious impacts because of activity on the claims prior to granting any approvals for the proposed work.

In addition, a portion of Dakota Gold’s mineral rights are composed of various ownerships of patented mineral rights including private surface lands with mineral rights, mineral rights severed from surface title and a few parcels of private surface with severed mineral rights. These lands are held 100% by the company but are in some cases controlled through option to purchase agreements subject to other obligations. These are identified in the individual property discussions below.

Exploration drilling done on private surface lands requires, in most cases, a notice be filed with the SDDANR prior to undertaking any exploration activities. The notice describes the proposed exploration activities and any remedial reclamation deemed necessary. The SDDANR reviews the application to ensure there will be no deleterious impacts because of activity prior to granting any approvals, including conditions for the proposed work.

The table below summarizes the individual land positions comprising each project or option within the greater Dakota Gold Black Hills Property as at December 31, 2025.

Of the various properties that comprise the Black Hills Property, the Richmond Hill Project is the only one that we view as individually material for purposes of S-K 1300, as the Richmond Hill Project is the only project upon which we have estimated mineral resources within the meaning of S-K 1300. The Company has announced a 2026 drilling program with the objective of announcing a maiden resource at our Maitland Project by the end of 2026. Detailed information about the Richmond Hill Project and certain other properties within the Black Hills Property is below.

Richmond Hill Project

Background and Ownership Rights

The Richmond Hill Project is comprised of more than 3,000 acres of private surface and mineral rights. It includes the past-producing Richmond Hill mine and the historical mines of the Carbonate District, as well as multiple prospective areas where gold has been drill-intersected.

The historic Richmond Hill mine is in the historical Carbonate Mining District approximately five miles northwest of Lead, South Dakota, in the northern Black Hills. Mining in the area started in the 1870s, during the gold-rush era, and continued until the silver price collapsed in the 1880s. Prior to 1981, the Richmond Hill land package included most of the Carbonate camp. Between the 1980s and 1990s, various companies conducted exploration of the area. Barrick acquired the property in 1994.

Multiple facilities related to the historical Richmond Hill mine still exist on the Richmond Hills Project property, including a water treatment plant and maintenance and storage buildings. Containment ponds are still operational, although an impermeable clay membrane has capped the open pit and leach pads. One of three wells that supplied water to the historic Richmond Hill mine is still active. There is a public access road to the site and a power line to operate the current water treatment facilities. As the site is in reclamation, there is no current book value associated with the assets for Barrick.

On October 14, 2021, Dakota Gold entered into an option agreement (the “Richmond Hill Option Agreement”) to acquire 100% of Barrick’s interest in the Richmond Hill property (the “Richmond Hill Option”). Under the original terms of the Richmond Hill Option Agreement, Dakota Gold had a three-year option to acquire 2,126 acres of surface and mineral rights with attendant facilities. In consideration for the Richmond Hill Option, Dakota Gold agreed to issue 400,000 shares of Dakota Gold common stock to Barrick and made annual option payments of $100,000 during the option period. Under the original terms of the Richmond Hill Option Agreement, Dakota Gold had the right to exercise the Richmond Hill Option on or before September 7, 2024, by assuming all liabilities and bonds associated with the Richmond Hill Property. In addition, on exercise of the Richmond Hill Option, Dakota Gold will issue Barrick an additional 400,000 shares of Dakota Gold common stock and grant a 1% net smelter royalty (“NSR”) to Barrick with respect to any minerals that may be recovered from the Richmond Hill Property. In September 2023, Dakota Gold and Barrick amended the Richmond Hill Option Agreement to extend the option period to March 7, 2026 and increase the Richmond Hill Project size by an additional 489 mineral acres, bringing the total mineral acreage for the Richmond Hill Project to approximately 2,615 mineral acres at that time. On February 6, 2025, the Company announced that Barrick had agreed to extend the option period for the Richmond Hill Option Agreement until December 31, 2028, in return for additional annual cash payments of $170,000 and $340,000, respectively, combined as an annual payment of $510,000 on each of March 1, 2026 (paid), March 1, 2027 and March 1, 2028.

In addition to the Richmond Hill Option Agreement properties, the Company includes 387 acres of owned surface and mineral rights from contiguous parcels of land in the Richmond Hill Project, thereby increasing the acreage total for the Richmond Hill Project to approximately 3,002 mineral acres.

Location and Access

The Richmond Hill Project is located in the western portion of Lawrence County, South Dakota, USA. More specifically the property lies within the Black Hills Meridian, Township 5N, Range 2E covering portions of Sections 9, 10, 11, 13. 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, and 34. The Project property is contiguous to Dakota Gold’s West Corridor and Blind Gold properties and is located approximately 1/2 mile north of the producing Wharf Gold Mine (Coeur Mining). Access to the Richmond Hill property is gained by traveling 1 mile southwest of Lead SD on Highway 85/14A to State Highway 473 and then traveling west approximately 3.2 miles to Wharf Mine Road and continuing west approximately 1.2 miles before turning and traveling 1 mile north on the Richmond Hill Road.

The location of the Richmond Hill Project is shown below:

Richmond Hill Project Location

The Richmond Hill Project is within five miles of the towns of Lead and Deadwood. Dakota Gold has its base of operations in Lead, with separate facilities for office and core processing. The City of Spearfish, SD, is within 20 miles of the Richmond Hills Project. The

cities of Sturgis and Rapid City are within 40 miles of the Richmond Hill Project. Most supplies can be obtained from Rapid City or Spearfish. Personnel for exploration or development programs may be sourced from or housed in the four nearby communities. A 69 kV transmission line supplies power to communities, and internal power is supplied by a 12.47 kV line to the Richmond Hill Gold Project site.

Major transportation systems, including road, rail, and air, exist proximally to the northern Black Hills. Rapid City has a major rail freight station and regional airport, while an Interstate highway passes through the city and wraps around the northern end of the Black Hills. Multiple facilities related to the historical Richmond Hill mine still exist on the Richmond Hills Project property, including a water treatment plant and maintenance and storage buildings. Containment ponds are still operational, although an impermeable clay membrane has capped the open pit and leach pads. Water for exploration drilling programs has been sourced locally and either pumped or trucked to the drills. One of three wells that supplied water to the historical Richmond Hill mine is still active.

Prior Exploration and Operations

Modest historical mining activities occurred on the Richmond Hill property during the late 19 th century. During this time, the only known production from the Richmond Hill property was from the Carbonate camp, which was primarily mined for lead and silver. The bulk of this production was from the Iron Hill mine. The mining was such that it supported a nearby town and smelter. Mining continued in this area until the silver price collapsed in the 1880s. An estimated 2,500 ounces of gold were produced from the Spanish R mine on the western side of the camp in the late 1800s.

More recently, Bond Gold (later acquired by LAC Minerals) produced gold and silver doré from the property beginning in 1988. The last mineralized material was hauled from the historical Richmond Hill mine pit in 1993 and efforts then shifted to reclamation activities. During this time, an estimated 172,294 ounces of gold and 212,610 ounces of silver were produced from the property.

Geological Setting and Mineralization

The Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America and extending north northwest into Wyoming. Several small rivers cut through the range, describing a roughly radial pattern, though most drainage is to the east. An ecological crossroad, the Black Hills contains wildlife and plant species typical of habitats of the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, northern boreal forests, and eastern deciduous forests. The Richmond Hill Project sits at an altitude of approximately 6,000 feet, and the historical leach pad area is at approximately 5,600 feet elevation, about one mile north of the pit area.

The Richmond Hill Project is an important component of Dakota Gold’s exploration strategy for the Homestake District. The property includes the past producing Richmond Hill mine and the mines of the Carbonate District. The historical Richmond Hill mine produced ore from Tertiary breccias dominantly hosted within Precambrian units that were processed as an open pit, heap leach operation. Tertiary-aged replacement gold mineralization, as well as possible Precambrian iron formation hosted mineralization were identified during exploration programs in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gold mineralization in breccia pipe bodies had previously been identified in the Richmond Hill, Richmond Hill North, Twin Tunnels, and Turnaround Breccia Pipes by LAC Minerals (USA) LLC. Dakota Gold followed up on this earlier work, and, by the end of 2023, completed 72 drill holes for a total of 116,966 feet (35,651 meters) which tested portions of the Twin Tunnels, Turnaround and Richmond Hill Breccia Pipes. Only three of the six known breccia pipes exposed at the Richmond Hill Project have been subject to any drilling by the Company and all of the known breccia pipes on the Richmond Hill Project remain open and/or lack drill testing to depth.

In 2024, the Company completed an additional 80 drill holes resulting in a grand total of 152 holes at Richmond Hill and 160,902 feet (49,043 meters). This drilling was split between infill and step out drilling in a shallow oxide portion of the orebody in carbonate replacement deposits located adjacent to but northeast of the main breccia pipe orebodies. Breccia pipes are associated with the Tertiary alkalic magmatism that generated most of the Tertiary-aged gold deposits hosted in pipes-shapes breccias, basement metamorphic rocks, Tertiary intrusive and carbonate replacement deposits in the overlying Paleozoic sedimentary rocks throughout the Homestake District. A portion of the Richmond Hill deposit is comparable to the mineralization being mined at the nearby Wharf open pit gold mine.

In 2025, the Company completed an additional 211 core holes and an additional 31 reverse circulation rotary holes for a total of 87,681 feet (26,725 meters) and 7,725 feet (2,355 meters), respectively. The core holes were completed for acquiring material for future metallurgical test work and in several areas of potential infrastructure sites for condemnation purposes. Twenty-nine of the reverse circulation rotary holes were converted to water well monitoring wells for future environmental monitoring and permitting purposes.

Permitting

The Company holds the permits required to conduct the infill and expansion drilling at the Richmond Hill Project that has been conducted to date. Future exploration and development drilling may require additional permits, which we currently anticipate we will be able to obtain in the ordinary course. Any future development or exploitation of the Richmond Hill Project would require significant additional regulatory review and future permits.

Mineral Resource Estimate

The following table summarizes the estimated mineral resources at the Richmond Hill Project, including the assumptions:

Richmond Hill Gold Project - Summary of Gold and Silver Mineral Resources as of February 3, 2025

Notes:

On July 7, 2025, the Company announced the IACF and the key parameters are presented below in Table 1. The IACF was filed by the Company with the SEC as an exhibit to its Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 7, 2025. The IACF was prepared by an independent group of Qualified Persons with M3 as the Study Manager.

Table 1: IACF base case overview and key parameters 1

Maitland Project

The Maitland Project area is an important component of Dakota Gold’s exploration strategy for the structural corridor that extends from the Homestake Gold Mine to Dakota Gold’s Forest Service land at the northern end of the Homestake District. The Maitland property covers the iron formation extending from the Blind Gold property target at the north end to Homestake Mining Company’s North Drift gold discovery of the late 1980s to the south. In addition to Precambrian aged gold mineralization hosted within the iron formation, the property area holds several Tertiary-aged zones of mineralization, including historic mines (e.g., Maitland Mine) hosted in the younger Paleozoic sedimentary and Tertiary intrusive rocks.

The initial 37.8 mineral acres of the Maitland Project were acquired in April of 2017 through an Exploration and Mining Lease and Option to Purchase Property Agreement with Trucano Novelty Inc., of South Dakota. On October 26, 2020, Dakota Gold acquired 2,046.1 mineral-acres from Homestake Mining Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Barrick (reduced after detailed title work completed). Pursuant to the terms of the definitive agreement, the Company paid consideration to Barrick comprised of $3.5 million cash and the issuance of 750,000 shares of Dakota Gold’s common stock. Additionally, Barrick retained a 2.5% net smelter returns royalty on the property. From August 2021 through March 2022, Dakota Gold purchased additional surface rights over existing mineral rights of approximately 273.5 acres to facilitate the exploration of the Maitland Property area. Two unpatented mineral claims were staked in late 2022 (6.4 acres) to cover fractional areas of interest on open BLM land. The project mineral rights now total 2,364 acres, all of which are located in the western portion of Lawrence County, South Dakota, USA within Black Hills Meridian, Township 5N, Range 2E, covering portions of Sections 12, 13, and 24, and Township 5N, Range 3E, covering portions of Sections 7, 8, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Annual claim maintenance fees total $400.

Access to the Maitland Gold Project is gained by traveling 2 miles north of Lead on Highway 85/14A to Central City/Blacktail and then turning and traveling northwest approximately 1.7 miles on the Maitland Road.

Dakota Gold began drilling at Maitland in 2022 and by the end of 2023 completed 36 drill holes extending over a distance totaling 127,857 feet (38,971 meters). On February 8, 2023, the Company announced the discovery of the Unionville Zone in MA22C-009, which intercepted Precambrian hosted, Tertiary-age, epithermal gold mineralization in a breccia located beneath Cambrian hosted Tertiary replacement gold mineralization on the horizon of the Maitland Mine in sedimentary cover. Then, on May 4, 2023, The Company announced the discovery of the JB Zone in MA23C-017, which intercepted high-grade, Precambrian mineralization over potentially mineable widths like mineralization from the Homestake mine. On August 1, 2023, the Company began using directional drilling equipment to accurately offset and step-out from the deeper JB Zone discovery intercept in MA23C-017, as well as, continuing an infilling program between widely spaced drill holes which identified the Unionville Zone and other high-grade intercepts of mineralization identified in earlier drilling like mineralization from the Homestake mine. Exploration drilling continued in 2024 and by the end of year, the Company had completed a total of 73 drill holes for 230,612 feet (70,291 meters) on the Maitland Project since initiating drilling activities in 2022.

The Company is planning a drilling program at the Maitland property in 2026. This drilling will focus on infill drilling in the Unionville Gold Zone announced in 2022 and early 2023. This infill and step-out drilling program will be conducted in the near surface, Tertiary-age portion of the gold system with the ultimate goal to produce a maiden resource by the end of 2026.

Barrick Option

On September 7, 2021, Dakota Gold entered into a three-year option agreement (the “Barrick Option Agreement”) to acquire 4,261 acres of surface rights with attendant facilities and data held by Homestake Mining Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Barrick (the “Barrick Option”). In consideration for the Barrick Option, Dakota Gold agreed to make a cash payment of $1.3 million, issue 1 million shares of Dakota Gold common stock to Barrick and make annual payments of $300,000 during the option period. Under the original terms of the Barrick Option Agreement, Dakota Gold had the right to exercise the Barrick Option on or before September 7, 2024, by assuming all liabilities and bonds currently held by Homestake within the Homestake District. In addition, on exercise of the Barrick Option, Dakota Gold will issue Barrick 3 million additional shares of Dakota Gold common stock and grant a 2.5% NSR to Barrick with respect to any gold that may be recovered from the Grizzly Gulch property (the “Grizzly Gulch”). On November 20, 2023, Dakota Gold and Barrick amended the Richmond Hill Option Agreement to extend the option period to March 7, 2026. On February 6, 2025, the Company announced that Barrick had agreed to extend the option period for the Barrick Option Agreement until December 31, 2028 in return for additional annual payments of $170,000 and $340,000, respectively, combined as an annual payment of $510,000 on each of March 1, 2026 (paid), March 1, 2027 and March 1, 2028.

The Barrick Option property is located in and around the City of Lead and lies within the Black Hills Meridian, Township 5 N, Range 3 E, covering portions of Sections 19, 20, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, and 34, and Township 4 N, Range3 E, covering portions of Sections 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 14, and 15.

Access to the Barrick Option property is gained from multiple public roads and highways including streets within the City of Lead, paved Highway 85/14A near Central City, US Highway 385 at Pluma, and via Lawrence County maintained Grizzly Gulch, Kirk, and Yellow Creek roads.

The Barrick Option property was previously a part of, or utilized in support of, Homestake Mining Company’s historic gold mining operations at Lead. Subdivisions of the property include Sawpit Gulch, Open Cut and Grizzly Gulch areas. As the property was previously disturbed by mining, Dakota Gold believes that potential exists for the Company to repurpose the property and remaining infrastructure for future operations if exploration is successful at Dakota Gold project areas that lie in close proximity.

Exploration and Sampling

Dakota Gold’s Black Hills Property is at an early stage of exploration. The Company has developed a detailed Exploration Procedures Manual which will define the Company’s internal quality analysis and quality control (“QA/QC”) procedures going forward. However, Dakota Gold has always implemented sampling and analytical QA/QC protocols consistent with industry standards. These protocols include, but are not limited to, the following procedures: