Company Description
Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. (IDR) is an Idaho-based gold producer and critical minerals company whose common stock trades on the NYSE American under the symbol IDR. According to multiple company disclosures, Idaho Strategic combines operating gold production with exploration and development of rare earth element (REE) projects and other mineral assets, with a focus on projects located in Idaho and within the broader Idaho REE-Th Belt.
The company describes itself as a gold producer anchored by the Golden Chest Mine and supported by processing infrastructure at the New Jersey Mill and a planned Murray Mill facility. Idaho Strategic reports that its business plan is a "production-backed exploration" model, where cash flow from gold production is reinvested into drilling, exploration, and mine development. Recent operating updates highlight ongoing production from Golden Chest and significant drilling activity targeting areas such as the Paymaster, Red Star, and H-Vein zones within the mine, as well as prospects across the Murray Gold Belt district.
Core Gold Operations
Idaho Strategic reports that the Golden Chest Mine is a central asset in its portfolio. Company news releases describe Golden Chest as an operating underground gold mine where ore is processed at the New Jersey Mill. Operational updates for 2025 note ore tonnes processed, gold ounces produced, and all-in sustaining cost metrics, alongside continued investment in underground development and surface infrastructure. The company has also discussed construction of a paste backfill system at Golden Chest and tailings filtration and haulage from the New Jersey Mill back to the mine as part of its mine development plans.
Exploration at Golden Chest has focused on multiple high-grade vein systems and broader mineralized zones. Idaho Strategic has reported drilling success at the Paymaster target, where high-grade gold intercepts in the Paymaster Hangingwall and Footwall veins are expected by the company to contribute to increased mineral resources. The company has also released drill results from the Red Star area, describing zones of high-grade mineralization within broader intervals of lower-grade gold. These results are being used to refine geologic models and evaluate potential mining methods, as described in the company’s technical and exploration updates.
Murray Gold Belt and District-Scale Land Position
Beyond Golden Chest, Idaho Strategic holds a district-scale land position in the Murray Gold Belt in northern Idaho. Company communications reference a land package of over 20,000 acres of patented and unpatented holdings within this district. Exploration work across the Murray Gold Belt includes drilling at prospects such as Buckskin, King Mine, Argus, McComber, Butte Gulch, and others. These programs target fault-controlled and vein-hosted gold mineralization identified through historic workings, trenching, and geophysical surveys.
In a 2025 news release, Idaho Strategic announced the acquisition of the Toboggan project from Hecla Silver Valley, Inc., a subsidiary of Hecla Mining Company. The Toboggan project is described as being located in the Murray Gold Belt, approximately three miles north of the Golden Chest Mine, and includes patented and unpatented claims hosting prospects such as Little Baldy, Gold Butte, Mineral Ridge, Golden Reward, Progress, Lost Eagle, and Independence. Historic exploration by companies including Newmont and Hecla identified large gold, silver, and tellurium soil anomalies at Mineral Ridge and Golden Reward that were only partially tested due to past permitting and joint venture constraints. Idaho Strategic states that it intends to evaluate and prioritize these prospects within its broader Murray Gold Belt exploration strategy.
Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals Portfolio
Idaho Strategic emphasizes that, in addition to gold production, it owns what it describes as the largest rare earth elements land package in the United States, based on its internal review of publicly available information on other companies’ landholdings. The company notes that investors are encouraged not to rely solely on this claim when making investment decisions. Its rare earth assets are concentrated along the Idaho REE-Th Belt, a northwest-trending zone that hosts most of Idaho’s known rare earth lode occurrences.
The company’s rare earth portfolio includes the Mineral Hill, Lemhi Pass, and Diamond Creek projects. At Mineral Hill, Idaho Strategic controls several carbonatite-hosted REE prospects, including Roberts, Cardinal, and Lower Lee Buck. The company has reported sampling results from the Cardinal prospect with greater than 17.6% total rare earth oxides (TREO) in select grab samples and has completed drone-based magnetics surveys to map carbonatite trends and identify additional targets. These surveys have outlined magnetic features interpreted by the company’s geologists as potential dike swarms and deeper intrusive bodies associated with carbonatite mineralization.
At Lemhi Pass, Idaho Strategic announced the discovery of a carbonatite with strong rare earth mineralization at the Lucky Horseshoe prospect, with samples assaying up to 6.14% TREO and characteristic ratios of magnet and SEG rare earth oxides. The company states that this is the first time a carbonatite has been identified at Lemhi Pass and that the discovery has led to a reinterpretation of the local geology, shifting prior assumptions toward a carbonatite-associated REE model. Ongoing work at Lemhi Pass includes soil geochemistry, ground-based radiometric surveys, and planned geophysical programs to refine drill targets.
The Diamond Creek project is described as another REE-focused property where trenching and drilling have previously returned wide intercepts exceeding 1% total rare earths, along with niobium and elevated yttrium. Idaho Strategic has outlined plans for additional trenching at prospects such as Simer and Frank Burch, with potential follow-up drilling depending on results.
Additional Exploration Assets
In addition to gold and rare earth projects, Idaho Strategic has disclosed ownership of the Eastern Star gold project near Elk City, Idaho, where it completed a first-phase drill program testing narrow, high-grade underground vein targets. The company has also added the Oxford copper project near Pierce, Idaho, consisting of state mineral leases and unpatented claims. At Oxford, Idaho Strategic reports anomalous copper-in-soil results and high-grade grab samples near a historic underground copper mine, and it plans to use three-dimensional induced polarization (3D IP) geophysics to evaluate the potential for a buried copper porphyry system.
Corporate Profile and Market Recognition
Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. is incorporated in Idaho, as noted in its SEC filings, and lists its principal offices in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The company’s common stock is registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and trades on the NYSE American under the symbol IDR. In 2025, Idaho Strategic announced that it had been added to the Russell 3000 Index and to the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), which the company views as milestones that increase its visibility among institutional and retail investors.
Across its disclosures, Idaho Strategic highlights that its business plan was established in anticipation of volatile geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions, and that it seeks to combine "growing gold production" with "blue-sky potential" in rare earth elements exploration and development within a single publicly traded company. The company also notes that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Clean Core Thorium Energy, Inc. related to thorium, reflecting broader critical minerals interests linked to its REE landholdings.
Regulatory Reporting and Governance
Idaho Strategic files periodic and current reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Recent Form 8-K filings reference the release of quarterly operating and financial results and the outcomes of the company’s annual meeting of shareholders, including the election of directors and ratification of its independent registered public accounting firm. These filings confirm that IDR’s common stock remains listed on the NYSE American and provide formal disclosure of material events and governance matters.
How Idaho Strategic Fits Within the Mining and Critical Minerals Sector
Within the broader mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector, and more specifically within dimension stone mining and quarrying and related mineral extraction activities, Idaho Strategic positions itself as a junior mining company that is both an operating gold producer and an active explorer of rare earth and other critical mineral projects. Its combination of an operating gold mine, district-scale gold exploration in the Murray Gold Belt, and multiple REE projects along the Idaho REE-Th Belt gives investors exposure to both precious metals and critical minerals through a single equity.