Golden Chest Mine

Mine Type:

Underground

2024 Production:

ounces of gold

Mill Head Grade:

grams per tonne

Overview

Idaho Strategic Resources’ 100% owned and producing Golden Chest Mine is located in northern Idaho approximately 45 miles east of the company’s headquarters in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The Golden Chest Mine is currently the only producing hard-rock gold mine in Idaho. It lies within the Murray Gold Belt just north of the renowned silver belt deposits of the Coeur d’Alene Mining District. Idaho Strategic Resources (IDR) recently consolidated the many historic gold mines, and prospects within the Murray Gold Belt to form an impressive land package consisting of 1,500 acres of patented mining claims and 5,800 acres of unpatented claims. The Golden Chest Mine has been in continuous production since 2016 and serves as the foundation of the company's production-backed exploration business model - designed to allow for shareholder friendly exploration and discovery potential with the downside protection of profitable and growing gold production.

Underground Mining

The Golden Chest Mine is Idaho's largest hard-rock gold producer. The Golden Chest is a rubber-tired ramp mine accessible via a modern decline large enough to facilitate the use of 30-ton underground haul trucks. The mine sits on a relatively small surface footprint, minimizing surface disturbance to approximately 220 acres of private land. The primary mining method employed at the Golden Chest is underhand cut-and-fill, designed to allow for efficient mining of the deposit's steeply dipping, high-grade, narrow veins. The mineralization at the Golden Chest Mine, and within the broader Murray Gold Belt, is believed to be related to an orogenic gold system with an igneous association.

Technical Report

Gold Production

Murray Gold Belt Landholdings

Trailing 5-year Annual Production

Information as of Dec. 31, 2024

Private Land

Acres

Mineral Claims

Acres

The Golden Chest Mine occupies approximately 220 acres of IDR's 7,300+ acres in the Murray Gold Belt

Near-Mine Exploration

Paymaster Red Star Klondike Katie Dora Additional Areas

Paymaster

The Paymaster area of the Golden Chest Mine is located immediately south of the company's existing underground workings. The Paymaster area is broadly defined as two parallel quartz veins situated on top of, and below, a monzonite igneous intrusive body. The grade and thickness between the two veins varies. Recent drilling by IDR in the Paymaster area continues to discover high-grade gold and further define the current reserves and resources reported in this area. The Paymaster is expected to continue to be an area of exploration drilling focus in 2025.

The table below is an aggregation of drilling highlights reported by the company from the Paymaster and Joe Dandy areas (collectively known as the Paymaster) at the Golden Chest Mine. The results are organized by grade and include key intercepts with gold grades and true thickness (where reported). All grades are in grams per tonne (gpt) gold.

Drill Hole	Area	Gold Grade (gpt)	Thickness (m)
GC 21-184	Paymaster	104.0	0.4*
GC 22-224	Paymaster	54.7	0.32
GC 21-196	Joe Dandy	28.7	0.94
GC 22-224	Paymaster	27.0	0.19
GC 24-275	Paymaster	24.7	0.3*
GC 21-184	Paymaster	20.1	1.5
GC 21-193	Joe Dandy	19.5	2.3
GC 22-223	Paymaster	16.6	1.23
GC 24-286	Paymaster	16.6	0.3*
GC 21-186	Paymaster	16.4	1.2
GC 20-183	Paymaster	14.7	0.9
GC 24-286	Paymaster	13.3	0.4*
GC 21-193	Joe Dandy	11.5	7.3
GC 21-197	Joe Dandy	11.0	2.6
GC 21-187	Paymaster	10.9	1.8

* Indicates drill intercepts that are reported in drilled thickness. All others are reported as estimated true thickness.

Red Star

The Red Star Vein is a significant high-grade gold discovery at the Golden Chest Mine, located 600 meters north of existing operations. Its mineralization features a sheared, banded quartz vein with visible gold and sulfides. Positioned in the hanging wall of the Idaho Fault and sub-parallel to the Red Star Fault, it shares geological similarities with the productive H-Vein. The discovery has spurred the company to intensify exploration, redirect drilling resources, and plan a new underground drill station.

The table below is an aggregation of drilling highlights reported by the company from the Red Star Vein. The results are organized by grade and include key gold intercepts reported in grams per tonne (gpt) gold. All results are from core drilling programs conducted in 2024. All intercepts are reported in drilled thickness.

Drill Hole	Area	Gold Grade (gpt)	Thickness (m)
GC 24-265	Red Star	50.8	4.5
Including		150.2	1.3
Including		42.5	0.6
GC 24-258	Red Star	8.2	9.3
Including		34.2	1.8
GC 24-263	Red Star	31.0	0.8
GC 24-249	Red Star	25.1	0.8
GC 24-264	Red Star	14.3	2.2
Including		24.8	0.4
Including		15.3	1.4
GC 22-264	Red Star	23.2	0.5
GC 24-265	Red Star	19.74	2.3
Including		20.7	1.0
Including		21.4	1.0
GC 24-261	Red Star	6.2	1.2
Including		18.0	0.2
GC 24-260	Red Star	15.9	1.0
GC 24-265	Red Star	10.0	1.7
Including		13.4	1.1
GC 24-264	Red Star	8.7	2.9
Including		11.8	1.9
GC 24-259	Red Star	9.6	3.7

Klondike

The Klondike area of the Golden Chest Mine is located immediately north of the company's existing underground workings. Mineralization in the Klondike area is often found in various veins in the hanging wall of the Idaho Fault, characterized by quartz veining, silicification, and hornfels alteration.

The table below is an aggregation of drilling highlights reported by the company from the Klondike area. The results are organized by grade and include key gold intercepts reported in grams per tonne (gpt) gold. All results are from core drilling programs conducted in 2021 and 2022. All intercepts are reported in drilled thickness.

Drill Hole	Area	Gold Grade (gpt)	Thickness (m)
GC 21-208	Klondike	29.6	2.7
Including		793.0	0.1
GC 22-212	Klondike	8.7	9.2
Including		37.3	1.3
GC 21-204	Klondike	12.2	3.4
Including		34.1	1.1
GC 21-203	Klondike	14.4	1.8
Including		31.8	0.8
GC 21-208	Klondike	20.7	1.3
GC 21-207	Klondike	7.9	4.6
Including		18.9	1.7
GC 21-205	Klondike	15.5	2.3
Including		35.4	0.5
Including		138.0	0.1
GC 21-205	Klondike	12.2	1.4
GC 21-207	Klondike	11.8	1.9
GC 22-213	Klondike	13.6	1.7
GC 21-209	Klondike	10.7	2.2

Katie Dora

The Katie-Dora area is currently the northernmost prospect at the Golden Chest Mine. While modern exploration in the Katie-Dora area is limited, it is the main area of historic production accessed by the old-timers in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. It is estimated that more than 60,000 ounces of gold was historically mined from this area. The mineralization in the Katie-Dora area is believed to be associated with the Idaho Fault and is comprised of numerous veins. Exploration results in the Katie-Dora area so far indicate narrow, high-grade gold intercepts, often with visible gold.

The two tables below are an aggregation of drilling and trenching highlights reported by the company from the Katie-Dora area. The results are organized by type of exploration (drill or trench) and ordered according to there grade in grams per tonne (gpt) gold. All results from core drilling are reported in drilled thickness, while trench results are reported in true thickness.

Drill Hole	Area	Gold Grade (gpt)	Thickness (m)
GC 20-182T	Katie-Dora	74.6	0.2
GC U11-7	Katie-Dora	54.6	1.1
GC U11-8	Katie-Dora	34.4	1.4
GC 24-253	Katie-Dora	13.3	0.7

Trench	Area	Gold Grade (gpt)	Thickness (m)
Trench #9	Katie-Dora	65	0.2
Trench #4	Katie-Dora	>20.0	0.2
Trench #14	Katie-Dora	>20.0	0.2

Additional Areas

There are many additional areas at the Golden Chest Mine where high-grade gold has been encountered in drilling, trenching, and sampling in the Idaho and Klondike pit walls. Areas such as the Jumbo Vein and Bush Vein have been intersected many times during Idaho Strategic's operations and exploration efforts over the years. These two veins in particular are close to existing mine infrastructure and could potentially serve as sources of ore in the future. Additionally, the recently intercepted I-Vein is located north of existing stopes on Idaho Strategic's H-Vein and may be the northern extension of the same vein. Idaho Strategic continues to intercept new veins at the Golden Chest Mine and is continuously processing the information and modeling potential resources warranting further exploration and development. These results underscore the prospective nature of the Golden Chest Mine and its potential for future discovery and resource expansion. The drill intercepts reported in the table below are in drilled thickness and in grams per tonne (gpt) gold.

Drill Hole	Area	Gold Grade (gpt)	Thickness (m)
GC 11-41T	Jumbo	137.0	0.9
GC 07-04	Jumbo	14.8	1.4
GC 11-49	Jumbo	5.6	1.4
GC 11-53	Jumbo	13.7	2.9
GC 11-54	Jumbo	8.4	1.8
GC 11-56	Jumbo	24.7	2.2
GC 11-62	Jumbo	5.66	3.4
GC 24-287	Jumbo	7.0	0.2
GC 24-288	Jumbo	5.65	0.4
GC 24-255	Bush	4.45	1.7
Including		19.0	0.3
GC 24-256	Bush	11.0	1.1
GC 24-257	Bush	8.62	1.2
Including		19.0	0.3
GC 24-253	31-Vein	36.8	0.3
GC 24-254	I-Vein	8.4	0.8
GC 24-259	I-Vein	7.1	6.5
Including		38.5	1.0
GC 24-252	Un-named Vein #1	10.4	0.7
GC 24-291	Un-named Vein #2	15.2	0.2

In-Pit Sample	Area	Gold Grade (gpt)	Thickness (m)
1072	Jumbo	152.0	0.6
1078	Jumbo	83.2	0.2
1084	Jumbo	83.0	0.2

District-Scale Exploration

Idaho Strategic's Golden Chest Mine lies within the Murray Gold Belt District in northern Idaho. The company believes its landholdings within the district have significant potential to host additional mines.

Murray Gold Belt

Milling Facilities

Idaho Strategic currently operates the New Jersey Mill located in Kellogg, ID along Interstate 90 within the Coeur d'Alene Mining District's storied Silver Valley. The New Jersey Mill sits approximately 45 miles south of the Golden Chest Mine, well within trucking distance. In 2014, the New Jersey Mill was awarded the Pollution Prevention Champion Award from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) due to the mill's innovative paste tailings system which saves approximately 50 million gallons of water at full capacity. Idaho Strategic plans to build a new, larger mill utilizing the same innovative paste tailings system on-site at the Golden Chest Mine to reduce trucking expenses, increase tailings capacity, and unlock the Murray Gold Belt District for future discovery and production.

New Jersey Mill

The New Jersey Mill is located along Interstate 90 in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District, just east of Kellogg, Idaho. The mill is a fully permitted 360-tonne per day floatation mill that produces a high-grade gold concentrate combined with a paste tailings disposal system. In 2011, IDR signed a joint venture (“JV”) agreement with Crescent Silver, LLC (“Crescent”) to increase the capacity of the New Jersey Mill. Crescent funded the expansion in return for a 35% interest in the JV assets plus certain processing rights. IDR is the JV manager and retains a 65% interest in the JV assets and certain processing rights, including the ability to allocate unused and excess capacity in its role as manager. Crescent has not produced or processed ore at the New Jersey Mill in more than a decade.

Murray Mill

In 2024, Idaho Strategic began the staged buildout of its new Murray Mill. The Murray Mill is located on-site at the Golden Chest Mine, which will not only eliminate existing haulage costs, but it will also serve as the processing facility for ore from potential additional mining operations within the company's broader Murray Gold Belt landholdings. Since Idaho Strategic already operates the New Jersey Mill, the company has the flexibility to stage the buildout of the Murray Mill beginning with the construction and operation of a paste backfill system to replace the more costly cemented rockfill method currently being used. Idaho Strategic plans to commission the paste backfill system in 2025 and opportunistically purchase and install new milling equipment throughout the coming year(s).

Idaho Environmental Award

Idaho Strategic's New Jersey Mill was given Idaho Department of Environmental Quality's Pollution Prevention Champion Award due to its innovative paste tailings system, which saves 50 million gallons of water at full capacity. The company plans to build the same system at its new Murray Mill.

View Award

Pollution Prevention Award Winner

Contact Idaho Strategic Resources