US Gold Corp: CK Gold Project Delivers $632 Million After-Tax NPV

• The March 2026 feasibility study (FS) on the CK Gold Project, completed by Halyard Micon International under the Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K (SK-1300) standard, shows an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $632 million and an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 27% at a $3,250 per ounce gold base case, rising to an NPV of $1.155 billion and an IRR of 42% at $4,500 per ounce gold.
• The project holds proven and probable reserves of 1.598 million gold-equivalent ounces, targets average annual production of 85,000 gold-equivalent ounces per year over an 11-year mine life, and carries an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1,785 per gold-equivalent ounce on a co-product basis.
• Initial capital expenditure (capex) is estimated at $394 million, with a 2.5-year payback at the base-case gold price; the company is targeting a financing structure of approximately 80% debt and 20% equity, with Wyoming state municipal bond precedents potentially covering up to 50% of capex.
• All major permits are in hand, with no federal agency involvement. The project sits on State of Wyoming land 20 minutes west of Cheyenne, with permitting handled solely by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, bypassing the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers.
• The Keystone Gold Project in Nevada, 100% controlled by US Gold Corp across 20 square miles on the Cortez Trend, 11 miles south of the Cortez Hills Complex, is being evaluated for a spin-out so that exploration capital requirements do not dilute the CK Gold development share structure.

A $632 Million Project Trading at a Third of Its NPV

U.S. Gold Corp. (NASDAQ: USAU) released its March 2026 feasibility study, completed by Halyard Micon International under Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K (SK-1300). At a $3,250-per-ounce gold base case, the study yields an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $632 million, an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 27%, and a 2.5-year payback period. At $4,500 per ounce gold, the after-tax NPV rises to $1.155 billion and the IRR to 42%, with payback shortening to 1.6 years.

Non-Independent Chairman of US Gold Corp, Luke Norman, addressed the valuation gap directly:

"We're trading at just around a third of our NPV and just under 30% IRR; very robust economics."

The process design is a conventional open-pit mining operation using truck-and-shovel methods in an 86-acre surface pit, processing 20,000 tonnes per day through crushing, grinding, and flotation to produce a gold-copper concentrate for off-site smelting. All-in sustaining cost (AISC) is $1,785 per gold equivalent ounce on a co-product basis, or $1,094 per ounce of gold net of copper, silver, and aggregate by-products. Life-of-mine (LOM) total net free cash flow (FCF), after capital investment and closure costs of $27 million, is estimated at $967 million.

State-Only Permitting Removes Federal Timeline Risk

The CK Gold Project sits on State of Wyoming land, 20 minutes west of Cheyenne and 3 miles north of Interstate 80. Because the project footprint does not affect US waters under Army Corps of Engineers jurisdiction and occupies state rather than federal land, all permitting ran through the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality alone, bypassing the Bureau of Land Management and Army Corps of Engineers, the 2 federal agencies most cited as sources of permitting delays for US mine developers.

Every major permit is held. The Mine Operating Permit was approved in April 2024 on a 10-year renewable term. The Industrial Siting Permit received unanimous approval in June 2023 and has been updated through June 2027. Water discharge and air quality permits were secured in 2024. The company held over 200 separate community engagement meetings with more than 300 individuals and received no formal objection to any permit application.

Norman described the post-mining legacy the project leaves for the Cheyenne region: 

"Post production, the pit is going to be tied into the adjoining state park and actually be used as a water reservoir to tie into their pre-existing reservoir network." 

That outcome, converting the exhausted pit into municipal water storage, is included in the approved mine closure plan and was highlighted as saving the Cheyenne and Laramie region an estimated $200 million in reservoir infrastructure costs.

$400 Million Finance Package: 80% Debt Target, 18-Month Build Timeline

US Gold is targeting approximately $400 million in construction finance. Norman described the debt-to-equity ratio shift available to the project:

 "They used to be more of a 60 to 60% debt, 40% equity type situation. Now, we're looking at term sheets and offers in the 80% debt 20% equity range." 

Wyoming has established a precedent for municipal bond financing that covers up to 50% of capital expenditures (capex) for qualifying projects on state land, which US Gold Corp is evaluating alongside traditional project debt. A potential by-product silver stream is also under consideration; the reserve contains approximately 3 million ounces of contained silver over the 11-year mine life per the March 2026 FS. The project requires no man-camp and no fly-in, fly-out workforce, given its location 20 miles outside Cheyenne, which management attributes to reduced execution risk and no additional draw on treasury during construction.

As of May 1, 2026, common shares outstanding were 16,526,163, with a fully diluted count of just over 20 million. Management and insiders hold approximately 15% of shares. Institutional shareholders include McKenzie, Franklin Templeton, Libra, and Sprat. The company held $36.1 million in cash as of January 31, 2026, per its quarterly filing.

40 Million Tonnes of Waste Rock Outside the NPV

The project's granodiorite waste rock, estimated at approximately 40 million tonnes within the reserve, meets specifications for construction aggregate and rail ballast. That volume is removed as part of the normal mining sequence and has been fully costed in the mine plan, meaning any revenue from its sale is additive to the stated $967 million LOM net FCF figure. The local quarry benchmark for crushed stone is approximately $20 to $25 per tonne.

Market studies cited in the same presentation indicate potential off-take of approximately 1 million tonnes per year, with a non-binding letter of intent for rail ballast delivery to a major railway already in place. Neither the off-take volume nor the ballast revenue is included in the March 2026 FS NPV of $632 million at the base case.

Keystone & the Cortez Trend: Spin-Out Separates Exploration From Development Capital

The Keystone Gold Project covers a 20-square-mile consolidated land package on Nevada's Cortez Trend, 11 miles south of Nevada Gold Mine's Cortez Hills Complex. The Cortez system has produced or holds, in reserves and resources, more than 51 million ounces of gold. Keystone shares the same Wenban Formation stratigraphy, Eocene-aged intrusives, dissolution-collapse breccias, and high-angle fault structures as Cortez, characteristics identified as common to the geological setting in which Plaster Dome made the Cortez Hills discovery.

The company is evaluating a spin-out that would distribute shares of a separate Keystone vehicle to existing US Gold Corp shareholders on a record-date basis. The mechanism separates the exploration capital required for deep sulfide targets at Keystone, which management has indicated would require a major mining company partnership to develop fully, from the $400 million construction finance package being assembled for CK Gold, preventing Keystone drilling spend from diluting the development vehicle's share structure.

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