(Kitco News) Sitka Gold is wrapping up a 60,000-meter drill program at its RC Gold project in Yukon, matching all the drilling it had done there since 2020. It plans to follow with a resource update and a preliminary economic assessment in 2027.
“We expect it to dramatically increase the resource and upgrade some of the category as well, some infill, but mostly it will be expansion drilling and new target drilling,” CEO Cor Coe told Kitco Mining on Sept. 24 at the 2026 Precious Metals Summit in Beaver Creek.
RC Gold currently hosts 1.29 million ounces of indicated gold and 3.83 million ounces inferred across the Blackjack, Eiger and Rhosgobel deposits, all at surface and road accessible. “So this year’s 60,000-meter drill program is going to be exactly what we’ve drilled since day one,” Coe said. The pace has climbed sharply, he said. “Two years ago it was 15,000 meters of drilling. Last year was 32,000, and this year it’s 60,000.”
About half of the 2026 meters are going into Rhosgobel, where Sitka began diamond drilling in 2025. Coe said its initial resource reached 2.25 million inferred ounces from only 13,000 to 14,000 meters, and he expects it to be the priority deposit as Sitka turns to economics. Blackjack, he said, is “running a close second.”
An updated mineral resource estimate is planned for the first quarter of 2027. Sitka already has an in-house scoping study and baseline environmental work underway, and Coe said a preliminary economic assessment could follow in the first half of 2027. “This is an inflection point for us. We’re still an explorer, but we’ve got to look at the development potential too of the project,” he said.
Visible gold turns up in most holes. “Over 90% of the drill holes have visible gold in them,” Coe said. “You’re not surprised anymore when you get a picture of visible gold.” Asked whether that makes the gold nuggety and harder to estimate, Coe pointed to outside testing. “We’ve had outside independent studies done on the gold to see if we do have a nuggety effect, and ironically, we don’t.”
Larger companies have taken notice. “We’ve had majors out there at the property even during the Yukon Mining Alliance. There were three majors out there,” Coe said.
Results since the interview show two of the deposits growing toward each other. On Oct. 14, Sitka reported that hole DDRCCC-26-156 at the Saddle Zone, between Blackjack and Eiger, returned 236.0 meters of 1.15 grams per tonne gold, including 71.0 meters of 2.79 g/t. Saddle lies inside the Blackjack pit shell but is classified as waste in the current resource. At Eiger, a step-out hole returned 45.5 meters of 1.16 g/t. The company said a lamprophyre dyke associated with the gold runs about 2 kilometers from Blackjack through Saddle into Eiger, supporting its view that the deposits may form one larger system. All intervals are drilled core lengths.
As of the Oct. 14 release, Sitka had drilled about 58,000 meters in 143 holes in 2026, with results released for 59 and pending for 84. Coe expects all assays by around mid-January 2027.
The three deposits are not the limit. “We’ve got 11 intrusions there, and we’ve got now deposits on three of them,” Coe said. “We’re optimistic that maybe we’ll have deposits on a couple more there this year.” Plans for 2027 will depend on results, but “ideally, we would probably do another 60,000 meters of drilling while we’re doing our economic studies.”
Coe said Sitka expects to finish 2026 with about $7 million in unallocated cash after paying for the year’s drilling.
Watch the full video on the Kitco Mining YouTube channel.
This article/video was produced with support from a Kitco sponsor. The views expressed in this content do not necessarily reflect the views of Kitco Metals Inc. Kitco does not endorse or recommend any company, security, investment product, or investment strategy. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.
Learn more about Sitka Gold here
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.