HAR: High grade USA gold hits, gold mineralisation in deeper drills, JORC resource due in 2 weeks...

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.

Here are some high-grade gold drilling results released by our Investment Haranga Resources’ (ASX:HAR) this morning.

(everyone loves high-grade gold hits):

(source: today’s HAR announcement)

These are outrageous grades - especially on the ASX, where 2-3g/t grades are considered economic for underground mines these days (and gold trading at US$4,600 per ounce).

We are Invested in HAR because:

1. It has gold ground in the famous California Mother Lode region.
2. Has had ~A$90M of capital invested into built infrastructure on site - by previous owners.
3. A 100% owned and permitted 350,000tpa gold processing plant (last operated in 2022)
4. Non-JORC resource (288k ounces at 9.29g/t)
5. Is surrounded by historical mines that mined kilometres deep
6. Its project has only ever mined and drilled down to 150m
7. Multi-million-ounce potential with more drilling
8. Gold price at record highs

Our Investment thesis with HAR’s USA gold asset has always been:

For HAR to convert its historic non-JORC resource to a JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (with more drilling)

AND

Drill deeper to find repetitions of the high grade gold that is closer to the surface (like all the other, deeper gold rush era mines nearby did).

THEN

Restart its existing gold processing plant to quickly mine and sell the gold into record high gold prices

= profit?

(no guarantees on any of this of course. HAR might not be successful - this is small cap resources investing and anything can happen)

TODAY: HAR hit plenty of (very high grade) gold in and around the existing underground decline AND a first sniff at gold much deeper down:

(Source: today’s HAR announcement)

HAR announced some ultra high grade hits that confirm the very high-grade nature of its project - this should allow for the non-JORC resource to convert into a JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (due in a few weeks - mid-May).

AND

Deeper drilling has hit gold mineralisation, meaning there ARE repetitions of gold deeper beneath HAR’s foreign gold resource...

(Source: today’s HAR announcement)

Today’s results should allow for the 288koz resource at 9.29g/t non-JORC resource to convert into a JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (due in a few weeks - mid-May).

NEXT for HAR is deeper drilling (starting in July) looking for higher grade deeper structures which will be above and beyond the maiden JORC resource HAR has due in a couple of weeks.

(Source: today’s HAR announcement)

A big part of why we like HAR’s US asset has to do with the type of gold systems in this part of California.

The region’s peppered with mines that run down to depths of up to ~2km.

In the image below, HAR’s first pocket of gold where those red veins run through is down to only ~150m.

And now, the first time ever drilling below that depth - HAR’s actually hit more gold at depth...

(who knows what HAR might find by going even deeper)

(source)(source)(source

Despite being the epicentre of the world’s most famous gold rush, there has been no mining in the area since the mid 1950s.

(yes the gold price has been climbing hard over the last few years, BUT its takes time to build or restart new mines)

The last mine in the region closed down a few years after WW2 related mine shutdown mandates in the 1940s.

So this part of the world’s only ever been mined with picks, shovels and 80+year old mining technology.

The only attempt in the modern age was by the previous owners of HAR’s project who were responsible for investing $90M+ of capital into processing/mine infrastructure on site (that HAR now owns).

They got cut short by a weak gold price.

Now HAR owns the asset in a strong gold price environment and gets to benefit from all of the cash the previous owners spent on the project.

We have been to site and seen the plant in the flesh:

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

A big part of the reason we are Invested in HAR is because theoretically HAR can get into gold production much faster than if it was exploring a greenfields site in the middle of nowhere.

While other companies need to think about building processing equipment from scratch.

HAR’s project would have a “faster to market” edge relative to most other ASX explorers/developers on the ASX that are drilling out their projects.

Next we need to see how big and what grade HAR’s resource is, to get a better sense of how much gold could be produced from the project.

HAR expects to have its JORC resource out for this part of its project later this month.

HAR’s explicitly said the JORC resource would focus on Lincoln, Comet and Medean - that’s where HAR has a non-JORC 288koz resource at 9.29g/t (based on drilling to 150m). (source)

So 288k ounces at 9.29g/t will be the number we are looking for HAR to (hopefully beat).

As it stands, HAR has:

1. Its existing non-JORC 288k ounce gold resource (the red and purple sections in the image below)
2. A ~308k ounce exploration target sitting at the "South Spring Hill" target
3. A new exploration target coming from Medean in “mid-May”, AND
4. The biggest ones - HAR's drilling could be hitting repetitions to the non-JORC resource at depth with holes 280 and 281 AND all of the work done so far is only across ~2km of strike (whereas the project covers ~6km of strike).
   

(source)

So at the moment HAR has almost 288k ounces in non-JORC resources and a further ~308k ounces in exploration targets.

The key point of difference for HAR are those grades.

As mentioned earlier, 2-3g/t ore bodies are considered economic for underground mines these days.

So even just 500k ounces at 8g/t+ average grades would be similar to having 1-1.5M ounces at 2-3g/t.

Now we wait for the maiden JORC resource due this month to see where HAR’s resource lands.

Here are the two money shots for the Californian asset:

1. Everything HAR has already + where those two deeper holes have been lobbed

(source)

2. Then this one again, a cross section of the ~6km of strike HAR’s working with AND the mines in the area that run down to ~2km depths (har’s projects resource is based on drilling down to 150m).

(source - HAR presentation November 2025)

Now we wait to see the size of the initial JORC resource HAR can put together.

(hopefully the grades in HAR’s non-JORC 288koz resource at 9.29g/t are maintained)

The ASX doesn't see resources that high grade every day.

So we think it could bring a lot of interest into HAR - especially with the existing infrastructure on site.

The last time we saw grades like that in a JORC resource on the ASX it ended up in a takeover worth ~$2.4BN.

(Remember Spartan Resources anyone?)

Fun fact, Spartan - just like HAR - also had fairly modern existing processing infrastructure.

More on the Spartan comparison in a second.

IF HAR can put together a resource anywhere near that 600k-1M ounce range then it will be game on for the ASX to start drawing comparisons to Spartan’s valuation.

With HAR capped at just $58M - we would take a valuation that’s even just 25% of Spartan Resources’...

While we wait for the JORC resource in the US, we also like that HAR’s basically giving us exposure to a free kick at a discovery attempt in Senegal.

HAR is drilling that project with heavy RC rigs for the first time - drilling started on the 17th of April and is expected to take ~25 days with assays coming shortly after. (source)

(Keep reading to see why we like that project too).

Inside the next few weeks, with HAR, we get - 1) A maiden JORC resource from its US asset and 2) A shot at a discovery in Senegal.

In the rest of today’s note we will go through why we think both of those catalysts could be triggers for a re-rate higher in HAR’s current valuation.

We will cover:

• How big we think HAR’s JORC resource could be and why it matters
• More on HAR’s asset in Senegal and whether or not HAR can repeat the $4.5BN Predictive Discovery playbook

A JORC resource could allow the market to compare HAR to gold peers

We typically don't think of maiden JORC resources as a major catalyst for companies because usually, in the lead-up to a JORC resource, while a company is drilling, the market will re-rate a company (off the back of results) and then sell off into a JORC resource.

For HAR, we haven’t really seen the buildup of expectations going into the maiden JORC resource - instead HAR’s traded sideways for the past few months:

(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.

We think that IF HAR can define a resource at or above the level of its non-JORC 286k ounce (source) it will allow for comparisons with peers that have similar resources.

We have used this example before, but the big US gold peer is 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.

HAR’s project is an underground high grade project, whereas Dateline’s is a bulk tonnage open-pit deposit.

AND the average grade of Dateline’s resource is 1.26g/t. (source)

HAR’s non-JORC resource is 286k ounces but the grade at 9.29g/t gold is over 7X Datelines at 1.26g/t gold.

So a smaller resource, but with 7X the grade could allow for market comparisons between the two companies.

Haranga is currently capped at $58M, Dateline is currently capped at $870M.

It’s almost impossible to find comparisons to HAR’s project because that 9.29g/t average grade is pretty ridiculous.

But one the ASX knows very well is the Never Never discovery that Spartan Resources made a few years ago.

That deposit had a 2.1m ounce resource with an average grade of 8.8g/t gold - and it was eventually taken out in a deal worth ~$2.4BN by Ramelius Resources. (source)

(source)

HAR and Spartan are similar in other ways too...

Spartan owned its own processing plant that was previously mining a low grade open pit (but had struggled financially several times) ~100M away from the Never Never discovery.

HAR also owns its own processing plant...

IF HAR could define 1/10th of Spartan’s resource (210k ounces or higher) then the look through valuation would still be multiples of HAR’s current market cap.

(obviously noting there are differences between the two companies - one is in the US, the other in WA - a jurisdiction that usually trades at a premium on the ASX).

And the comparative resource we could think of was ASX listed Torque Metals which has a 250k ounce gold resource with an average gold grade of ~3.1g/t gold. (source)

(similar ounces to HAR’s non-JORC resource, but 1/3rd of the grade).

Torque is currently capped at $271M.

IF HAR can define even 500k ounces - with all of the infrastructure in place it could start to draw comparisons to its project and the likes of Dateline, Spartan’s discovery and Torque...

Especially because of its grade profile because higher grades usually mean:

• More gold per tonne processed (obvious, but the economics compound quickly)
• Lower cost per ounce produced (you move less rock for the same amount of gold)

HAR’s market cap right now is $59M.

And let's not forget - HAR’s project also comes with:

• ~A$90M of sunk capital 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

How about in Senegal - can HAR repeat the $4.5BN Predictive Discovery playbook?

As mentioned earlier, the second major catalyst for HAR could come from its Senegal asset.

HAR’s big hit from this asset was hole #8 back in October 2025 which hit 20m at 6.54g/t gold and quickly captured the market's attention.

That first batch of results were strong enough for HAR to go straight into a second shallow round of drilling.

And now we know there is ~800m of strike to test with a fair few holes that ended in mineralisation.

Here is a cross-section of one hole that ended in mineralisation “within bedrock”:

(source)

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

Right now, HAR is running the first RC drill program with holes planned down to depths of ~260-300m.

With this program we should find out if 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 $4.5BN Predictive Discovery was when it made its discovery back in February 2020.

Predictive’s asset ended up a 4.9M ounce discovery and took the company’s share price from 0.6c per share to a high of ~$1 per share.

The ultimate win for HAR in Senegal would be a “Predictive Discovery style” major gold discovery.

So far, HAR has followed the Predictive story pretty closely.

Predictive drilled a few aircore holes with low expectations, hit high grade gold, followed it up with RC drilling and ~5 years later it’s capped at ~$4.5BN.

When Predictive first hit gold in shallow aircore holes the market had a pretty modest reaction to the news.

It wasn’t until the deeper holes were drilled and a discovery was declared that Predictive’s share price really started running.

Predictive is the most obvious comparable success story to what a big, outsized win for HAR could look like here. No guarantees of course.

(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.

Here is how the Predictive story went and where we see similarities with what HAR has...

The Predictive announcement from 26 February 2020 was when we got a first look at the extent of gold structures (from shallow auger drilling) - similar to what HAR has defined so far.

Here is what Predictive had in February of 2020, and what HAR has now side by side:

(source) (source)

Then a few months later, Predictive followed up with deeper holes along that area that the shallow drilling had defined (they literally drilled below those shallow gold targets):

(source)

HAR is currently at this stage - running the first round of deeper drilling where it hit gold with shallow auger drillholes.

That first round of deeper drilling was what opened the door to a big capital raise for Predictive and by July 2020, a ~1,300m structure had been defined on the project:

(source)

After that larger structure was drilled the market started to really take the discovery seriously.

(source)

Right now, HAR’s got its 800m gold in termite mound soil anomalies - confirmed by shallow aircore drilling.

And the area that’s been drilled so far only makes up a small fraction of the ~5km area with gold in soils across the project:

(source)

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 🤷‍♂️).

The deeper drilling (IF it comes in - no guarantees of course) just like Predictives did between February & April 2020 could be what sets up HAR to go off and test the rest of the project.

IF HAR can find anything remotely valuable, then it is also in a part of the world where it could attract attention from much larger-cap peers too.

HAR’s project sits in an area with some big operating mines including projects owned by $22BN Endeavour Mining and $3.1BN Resolute Mining.

(The region has a few other gold discoveries too, so it's not in the middle of nowhere).

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

(source)

Ultimately, success at either of HAR’s projects could be what helps the company achieve our 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 (May)

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

HAR expects to have one more batch of results out before then with the JORC resource estimate due “early” this month.

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

• ✅ Drilling commenced (December 2025)
• ✅ Drilling expanded to 40 holes / 3,270m
• ✅ Assays results #1
• 🔄 Assay results #2 (XC8)
• ⬜ Maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (Expected by early May)

🔄 Senegal gold - deeper drilling

HAR is now drilling its asset in Senegal with a deeper RC rig.

As mentioned earlier, here we are hoping that previous hit (20m @ 6.54 g/t gold from just 12m depth) can be followed up and proven as part of a larger gold system.

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

• ✅ Drilling started
• 🔄 Assay results
• ⬜ Decision to come back and do more drilling

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 and resource risk.

There are still assays pending from HAR’s US asset AND HAR is in the middle of a drill program on its project in Senegal.

There is no guarantee that any of the assays return economically viable gold mineralisation.

IF drilling came back poorly 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 that HAR is unable to convert its non-JORC historic resources into JORC compliance.

Even though the old numbers are non-JORC, investors would still build in expectations for HAR to match or beat those results.

IF the resource comes in a lot smaller it could re-rate the stock lower as a missed expectation.

Resource risk

Currently, HAR’s US based project has a “foreign resource estimate”. This means it used a different set of assumptions & guidelines compared to the JORC standards we are required to see on the ASX.

There is no guarantee that HAR will convert all of its foreign resources into a JORC resource. If this risk were to materialise, it may have a negative impact on the company's share price.

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

Other risks

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

With active drilling programs currently running in both the US and soon in Senegal, HAR maintains a high cash burn rate. This creates an ongoing risk of future capital raises, which could lead to the dilution of existing shareholders.

Operating across two very different jurisdictions in California and West Africa can stretch the bandwidth of a small management team. Any regulatory shifts in the US or geopolitical instability in Senegal could impact the company's ability to focus on its primary targets.

While the existing $90M processing plant is a huge head start, there is always a risk that restarting dormant infrastructure reveals unexpected technical or metallurgical complexities. It may require more capital and time than originally anticipated to get the plant back to full operational capacity.

Much of the current excitement around HAR is supported by gold prices sitting at record highs. If the gold price were to experience a significant pull-back, the projected economics of the project and investor appetite for small-cap explorers could drop.

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