Mariposa County approves three-year drill permit for Fremont Gold Mine

By Dan Tucker

Mariposa County has approved a three-year permit allowing Lode Gold to begin surface exploration and drilling at its Fremont Gold Mine, a privately owned gold project near Mariposa near the scenic and historic Merced River near Bagby.

The Administrative Use Permit clears the way for the company to launch a 3,500- to 4,500-meter drilling program in the second half of 2026. Lode Gold says the work will help prepare the project for a prefeasibility study expected in 2027, a key step in determining whether the mine can move toward development.

Drilling Will Focus on Mine Planning and Resource Data

The planned drilling program is intended to gather geological, engineering and water-related data needed to better understand the mine site and support future design work. The company said the drilling will help with several technical priorities, including testing how the ore may be processed, studying rock conditions for underground mine design, improving confidence in known mineral resources and collecting groundwater information.

Company Sees Expansion Potential Beyond Existing Mine Area

Lode Gold also said the Fremont property has additional exploration potential along a roughly four-kilometer mineralized trend. The company plans to evaluate deeper extensions of the Pine Tree-Josephine zones, expand work at Chicken Gulch, and further assess the Queen Specimen target, which the company says accounts for about 10 percent of the project’s current resource footprint.

The company is also reviewing nine early-stage prospects across the broader property, including the Rosie Jane and Drunken Gulch areas. Lode Gold said it is using geological modeling and artificial intelligence-supported structural analysis to help identify future drill targets.

Wendy T. Chan, CEO and director of Lode Gold, said the permit gives the company the regulatory approval needed to advance work at Fremont. She said the drilling campaign will focus on the core mineralized zones that are expected to support the 2027 prefeasibility study, while also testing possible extensions and regional targets.

Background on the Fremont Gold Mine

The Fremont Gold Mine is a historic gold project in Mariposa County. Mining stopped in 1942 during World War II, and the site has since been evaluated through drilling, underground sampling and technical studies. Lode Gold says the property includes more than 3,000 acres of privately owned land and contains both indicated and inferred mineral resources.

The company has described Fremont as its flagship U.S. asset. With the permit now approved, Lode Gold’s next major step is to complete the planned drilling program and use the results to support the prefeasibility study targeted for 2027.