(From Todd Epp, Northern Plains News)
Lion Rock Resources has reported a major gold find at its Volney Project, about 12 miles southwest of Spearfish and 9 miles west of Lead in South Dakota’s Black Hills Mining District.
Surface sampling returned gold values as high as 189.5 grams per tonne from float material and 14 grams per ton from bedrock—among the highest grades reported in the region in recent years.
The Volney Project covers 351 acres of private land, giving Lion Rock Resources both surface and mineral rights. This private ownership enables the company to expedite permitting and transition quickly from exploration to drilling, a process that often takes significantly longer on public lands.
Sampling identified a 260-meter shear trend where 20 bedrock samples returned more than 0.5 grams per ton of gold. Additionally, 41 float samples exceeded 1.0 gram per ton, with seven samples topping 10 grams per ton. These high-grade finds were typically associated with quartz veins and sheared greenstone units, both known hosts for gold in the Black Hills.
However, both the company and industry analysts caution that these results are from grab and chip samples, which are selective and may not represent the overall mineralization of the property.
For grab samples, 1 to 3 kilograms of material were collected from single locations, while chip samples were taken from outcrop faces. Such methods can highlight high-grade zones but do not provide a comprehensive picture of the deposit’s average grade or economic potential.
No resource estimates or economic studies have been completed yet, and only a limited portion of the property has been explored to date.
Dale Ginn, president and CEO of Lion Rock Resources, said the results “underscore the exceptional potential of the Volney Project. We’re seeing strong gold grades across multiple zones, which confirm the presence of high-grade mineralization at the surface. Combined with promising lithium and tin values and the advantage of private land ownership, Volney represents a truly unique exploration opportunity for Lion Rock.”
The Volney property also shows potential for other valuable minerals. Recent sampling returned lithium values up to 5.3 percent from historic stockpiles and up to 3.7 percent from outcrops. Thirteen stockpile samples reported tin values greater than 1 percent, suggesting multi-commodity upside for the site.
The Black Hills have a long mining history, with more than 62 million ounces of gold produced, including from the legendary Homestake Mine near Lead. The area remains active, with several companies advancing new projects and exploration programs.
Lion Rock’s Volney Project is part of this new wave, but the company cautions that early sampling results are preliminary and further drilling and studies are needed to determine the true scale and value of the discovery.
Lion Rock Resources is a Canadian-based mineral exploration firm focused on high-grade gold and lithium projects across North America. The company’s technical results were reviewed by Carl Ginn, a professional geologist and consultant, in accordance with Canadian reporting standards.
