HAR: Going for fast, high grade gold production in the USA - gold’s wild ride continues.

Disclosure: S3 Consortium Pty Ltd (the Company) and Associated Entities own 7,803,780 HAR Shares at the time of publishing this article. The Company has been engaged by HAR to share our commentary on the progress of our Investment in HAR over time. This information is general in nature about a speculative investment and does not constitute personal advice. It does not consider your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Any forward-looking statements are uncertain and not a guaranteed outcome.

It's been a wild ride for gold the last three weeks - but it's still trading higher than it ever has before the start of this year.

Plus it ran up nearly 8% from its lows over the last 24 hours - like we said, wild ride...

Today, our Investment Haranga Resources (ASX:HAR) just showed us how its USA based high grade gold project could potentially get to that psychologically important 1M+ ounces of gold resource level.

Psychologically important for some investors, probably less so for many these days with the gold price above US$4,000/oz... is 500koz the new 1Moz?

HAR owns 100% of the Lincoln Gold Project, sitting in the heart of California's legendary "Mother Lode" Gold Belt.

This is the same region that triggered the original Californian gold rush in 1848-49.

We like HAR because its asset comes with permits and $90M of infrastructure in excellent condition - this kind of stuff can take years to do and lots of capital.

So a lot for HAR is already in place to potentially start production while the gold price is high.

(even though the gold price is thrashing up and down over the last two weeks, it's still a lot higher than it has ever been)

HAR's project comes with:

• ~A$90M of sunk infrastructure** built by previous owners
• A 100% owned and permitted 350,000tpa gold processing plant (last operated in 2022)
• An 880m underground decline
• Offices, workshop, and laydown yard
• AND a Conditional Use Permit that allows production of gold

HAR’s project, after today’s announcement, has:

• ~286,000oz gold at 9.29 g/t The Lincoln-Comet historical non-JORC resource:
• NEW: South Spring Hill Exploration Target (upper end): ~308,000oz gold at 5.8 g/t
• source) And then there is that 2008 report which indicates there could be 682,000 ounces of gold resource potential (which today’s exploration target could be a part of). (

So maybe one day the project’s resource estimate could actually be closer to that 1M+ ounce level - where institutional investors start to take gold development projects more seriously.

Note there is no guarantee exploration targets convert to JORC Mineral Resource Estimates, so caution should be applied when considering these numbers.

So HAR’s project sits right in the middle of the famous California gold rush Mother Lode - what you can see below shown in red is the historically mined sections.

HAR owns the section in green, and the previously mined sections shown in yellow have not been mined to similar depths as the nearby mines:

(source)

We saw all of this with our own eyes when we visited the project last year and we were positively surprised by the condition of everything - when we hear “historically producing gold mill” we generally think of rusty ball mills, timber frames and broken rail tracks.

(source - our pics from a site visit last year, see that here)

One of the things that stuck with us was the sign on the decline gate itself, which listed the mines the decline was originally being developed with "planned access to" - Talisman, Medean, South Springs, Keystone and Eldorado.

The planned access from this “decline” (the big tunnel to access gold mineralisation) is to the deeper parts of nearby historically mined projects that HAR also owns:

(source - HAR presentation November 2025)

So the underground decline that's in place was initially designed to access the area on which HAR announced an exploration target today:

The South Spring Hill Mine - which actually has a history of gold production:

(source HAR announcement)

So... all of that gold resource potential at South Spring Hill Mine (announced today) could potentially be accessed by extending/rehabilitating the underground decline.

Here is where South Spring Hill sits relative to the existing estimates we knew about before today’s announcement:

(source)

And here is our rough estimate of where it sits in a cross-section of the same area:

(source)

The new area is only ~550m north of where HAR is drilling right now.

And we did notice in today’s announcement HAR explicitly say “further Exploration Targets are under review across the Project area”.

Remember the underground decline gate had "planned access to" - Talisman, Medean, South Springs, Keystone and Eldorado.

Maybe across all of those HAR can put together a resource estimate well above that magic 1M ounce number?

No guarantees of course, forecasting Mineral Resource Estimates is not an exact science, and things can always take longer than expected or the drill bit proves something else.

In any case we should find out soon.

One of the main reasons we like HAR’s US asset is because it’s never really been developed during a bullish gold price environment (and market in the US) to attract the capital required to really unlock the asset.

Most of the mines in this part of California produced gold down to depths of ~1,800m.

HAR’s non-JORC resource is based on drilling down to depths of just ~150m.

(Who knows how much more gold HAR can find by drilling a few super deep holes into the project)

(source - HAR presentation November 2025)

We are Invested in HAR to see the company drill out the asset, get the infrastructure in a position to start mining again, and hopefully put a 1M+ ounce deposit back into production.

No guarantees of course - this is just our upside case.

~$56M capped HAR is doing the first part right now - drilling.

Assays are expected in April, and HAR confirmed today that a maiden JORC resource estimate would also come by the end of April.

(source)

With the current round of drilling we want to see HAR convert its ~286koz non-JORC gold resource estimate into JORC compliance.

The bulk of current drill holes are confirmatory holes into parts of the project where we expect to see gold mineralisation.

(HAR’s last announcement specifically mentioned that the “lode thicknesses are improving as drilling progresses further south” - a good sign from confirmatory holes) (source)

But the one we are really looking forward to is that deep “Hail Mary” hole going for extensions at depth - the first hole down below 150m depth:

(source)

If any of the results mirror what previous drilling had hit on the project then we think it could be game on for HAR.

Here are some of the old hits that came back at 1.2m with average gold grades of 108g/t gold and 3.7m at 108.7g/t gold:

(source)

On first glance, those old intercepts look thin, which comes down to the type of gold HAR is chasing - thin structures that run over a few hundred metres at very high grades.

Grade is king here.

Given HAR will be doing diamond drilling, between now and assay results, we could also see visuals (assuming HAR is able to intercept them).

We think anything remotely close to those very high historic grades could bring a lot more attention to HAR.

Why does getting closer to that 1M ounce number matter?

Depending on the size and grade of that JORC resource, the market could start to draw comparisons between HAR’s asset and another ASX listed, US gold peer - Dateline Resources.

Dateline has been in the media for its rare earth potential but its Colosseum project in California is in fact primarily a gold project.

Dateline’s project has a 1.1M ounce gold resource estimate with the project at the Bankable Feasibility Study stage. (Source)

Unlike HAR, Dateline has no infrastructure on site and no permitting in place.

So HAR’s project would also have a “faster to market” edge relative to Dateline’s deposit.

(Remember HAR thinks it can get to ~682,000 ounces based on 2008 data alone)

In early October, Dateline’s share price peaked at ~67.5c per share - up over 200x from its 12-month lows.

Haranga is currently capped at $56M, Dateline is currently capped at $1.8BN.

(Source)

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

HAR after today’s announcement has:

• The Lincoln-Comet historical non-JORC resource: ~286,000oz gold at 9.29 g/t
• South Spring Hill Exploration Target (upper end): ~308,000oz gold at 5.8 g/t (potentially a part of the 2008 data that was indicating there could be up to 682,000 ounces of gold resource potential.

And as mentioned earlier, there are plenty of other targets HAR is looking at adding exploration targets to.

These are rough illustrative numbers only - mixing non-JORC resources and Exploration Targets is not standard practice, but it gives a sense of the total gold endowment HAR could be looking at on its ground.

At current gold prices (even after all of the volatility related to the US/Iran conflict) - we think a defined 1M+ ounce gold asset - with $90M+ of existing infrastructure and permitting in place could be a trigger for a re-rate in HAR’s current $56M market cap.

Check out our previous coverage of the US asset, where we detail:

• $90m+ of infrastructure in place matters. Why having the
• fully permitted matters, Why being
• our site visit from last year and of course,

HAR also has a gold exploration project in Senegal

HAR also owns 100% of a gold project in Senegal where it drilled 800m of continuous gold mineralisation last year (including a 20m @ 6.54 g/t gold hit from just 12m depth).

That hit started the rally in HAR’s share price from 8.6c to where it is today at 19.5c per share.

(source)

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

HAR’s now knows there is gold over ~800m of strike and gold in soils over ~5km on that project.

HAR has already committed to a third round of drilling on the project with a heavier RC rig - capable of drilling to bigger depths.

(All of the drilling so far has been holes down to ~20-85m depths.)

(source)

HAR previously said drilling should start this quarter - that’s when we get to see the main event (only a few more days to go...) - deeper RC drilling that will test whether or not HAR accidentally made a big new gold discovery, OR if the results from back in October were isolated pockets of high grade gold.

We think HAR is now in a similar position to where $2.3BN Predictive Discovery was when it made its discovery back in February 2020.

No guarantee HAR will get anywhere close to Predictive’s market cap of course.

The interesting part is the market didn't really start re-rating Predictive until the deeper drilling confirmed what the shallow auger results found initially.

Here is what Predictive had in February of 2020, and what HAR has after January’s most recent results from here, side by side:

(source) (source)

And here are those deeper holes Predictive had to drill out before the market really started re-rating the stock:

(Source)

Predictive’s asset ended up a 4.9M ounce discovery and took the company’s share price from 0.6c per share to 85c per share.

(Source)

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

If that deeper drilling delivers for HAR we think that could be the catalyst that triggers a re-rate higher in HAR’s share price.

Of course, there is just as much chance HAR finds nothing economic - part and parcel of Investing in exploration companies.

These early results could be the makings of a big discovery - or it could go nowhere.

What we do know is that often big discoveries are made when no one expects anything to happen (that’s exploration for you 🤷‍♂️).

Check out our deep dive on why HAR reminds us of the early days of Predictive here: HAR following the $2.3BN Predictive Discovery playbook in Africa

IF HAR can discover even something approaching an economic resource, then it is also in a part of the world where it could attract attention from much larger peers too.

HAR’s project sits in an area with some big operating mines including projects owned by $19BN Endeavour Mining and $2.8BN Resolute Mining, plus a number of other gold discoveries.

So a big discovery from HAR here could very easily bring with it corporate attention (if the early results haven’t already).

(Source)

With HAR capped at $56M, we will take success on either project (in the US or in Senegal), which brings us to our HAR Big Bet as follows:

Our HAR Big Bet:

“HAR re-rates to a market cap greater than $200M by making new gold discoveries in California and progressing towards production or is acquired at a multiple of our initial entry price”

NOTE: our “Big Bet” is what we HOPE the ultimate success scenario looks like for this particular Investment over the long term (3+ years). There is no guarantee that our Big Bet will ever come true. There is a lot of work to be done, many risks involved, including development risk, country risk and commodity price risk - just some of which we list in our HAR Investment Memo.

Success will require a significant amount of luck. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.

What's next for HAR?

🔄 Maiden JORC resource estimate (due end of April)

We want to see HAR convert its ~286koz non-JORC gold resource estimate into JORC compliance.

HAR’s latest update confirmed that ~2,189m of drilling had been completed so far and that the program would be expanded from 30 holes to ~40 holes (for a total of ~3,370m).

HAR expects assay results from drilling in April and a maiden JORC resource estimate by the end of April.

We are especially looking forward to the 350m deep hole HAR has planned to test below the existing ~150m resource depths - results from that hole are expected after the maiden resource:

(source)

Here are the milestones we are tracking for the US asset:

• ✅ Drilling commenced (December 2025)
• ✅ Drilling expanded to 40 holes / 3,370m
• 🔄 Drilling at XC7, XC8 drilling to follow
• 🔄 Assay results
• 🔲 Maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (Expected at the end of April)
• 🔲 Deep hole to test at depth

🔄 Senegal gold - deeper drilling

HAR also confirmed earlier this year it would start deeper RC drilling at its Senegal gold project, following up on 800m of continuous gold mineralisation from shallow aircore drilling - including 20m @ 6.54 g/t gold from just 12m depth.

See our most recent coverage of the Senegal asset here: HAR: 800m of continuous gold mineralisation - deeper drilling to start this quarter

What could go wrong?

The near-term risk for HAR is exploration risk.

There is no guarantee that the current drilling at HAR’s US asset finds economically viable gold mineralisation.

There is also a risk that the current drilling fails to confirm the historic results - which could mean HAR delivers results well below the market's expectations.

IF that were to happen, we would expect HAR’s share price to re-rate lower.

Exploration risk

There is no guarantee that HAR's upcoming drill programs are successful and HAR may fail to find economic gold deposits.

Source: "What could go wrong" - HAR Investment Memo 25 June 2025.

Another risk is the volatility in the gold price.

When the markets are experiencing peak fear, gold prices can sometimes suffer.

IF the gold price were to fall enough, then we would expect it to impact HAR’s share price.

Commodity Price Risk

The performance of commodity stocks are often closely linked to the value of the underlying commodities they are seeking to extract. Should the gold price fall, this could hurt the HAR share price.

Source: "What could go wrong" - HAR Investment Memo 25 June 2025.

Other Risks

Like any small-cap gold exploration and development company, HAR carries significant risk, here we aim to identify a few more risks.

A major near-term risk for HAR is the conversion of its historical, non-JORC resource and new Exploration Targets into a compliant JORC Mineral Resource Estimate.

There is a high statistical probability that modern drilling fails to replicate the old grades or continuity, resulting in a JORC resource that is much smaller or lower grade than the headline figures suggest. If the upcoming resource estimate disappoints the market, it would likely cause a sharp negative re-rating of the share price.

HAR’s US project relies on refurbishing ~$90M of sunk infrastructure, including an underground decline and a processing plant last operated in 2022. Restarting idle mining infrastructure carries significant engineering and capital risks. There is a risk that the plant or decline requires far more capital to rehabilitate than anticipated, which could delay any potential move towards near-term production.

Operating an underground gold mine in California also introduces intense regulatory, environmental, and permitting risks. While HAR holds a Conditional Use Permit, California is known for having some of the strictest environmental and labour regulations in the world. Any compliance issues, community opposition, or requirements for new environmental studies could halt operations and severely impact the project's economics.

Furthermore, HAR is attempting to advance a complex underground mine restart in California while simultaneously conducting high-risk greenfield exploration in Senegal, West Africa. Managing operations across two vastly different geological and geopolitical jurisdictions requires immense management bandwidth and financial resources. There is a risk that the company's focus and capital are stretched too thin, stalling momentum on one or both projects.

Finally, with deep drilling planned in California and deeper RC drilling scheduled for Senegal, HAR's cash burn will be high. As a pre-revenue explorer capped at ~$56M, it is highly likely the company will need to tap equity markets in the near term to fund these concurrent programs and any infrastructure rehabilitation. Any future capital raises will likely result in dilution for existing shareholders.

Investors should consider these risks carefully and seek professional advice tailored to their personal circumstances before investing.

Our HAR Investment Memo

Our Investment Memo provides a short, high-level summary of our reasons for Investing.

We use this memo to track the progress of all our Investments over time.

Click here to read our HAR Investment Memo where you will find:

• What does HAR do?
• The macro theme for HAR
• Our HAR Big Bet
• What we want to see HAR achieve
• Why we are Invested in HAR
• The key risks to our Investment Thesis
• Our Investment Plan