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Contango Ore

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Contango Silver & Gold is a premier, North American mid-tier precious metals producer, developer and explorer.

Investor website: https://www.contangoore.com/

About

Contango Silver & Gold is a premier, North American mid-tier precious metals producer, developer and explorer. By uniting high-grade gold production and development stage assets in Alaska with district-scale silver advanced-stage exploration in British Columbia, we have created a high-margin platform for non-dilutive growth.

Verified company data

Cash position
$89.0 M
Shares outstanding
32,851,900
Fully diluted shares
34,047,823
Mineral resource
The JT Deposit hosts an Indicated Resource of 3.489 Mt grading 9.39 g/t gold equivalent (“AuEq”) comprised of 5.33 g/t Au, 6.0 g/t Ag, 0.56% Cu, 0.67% Pb and 5.21% Zn. The Inferred Resource of 0.706 Mt grading 4.76 g/t AuEq is comprised of 1.36 g/t Au, 9.1 g/t Ag, 0.59% Cu, 0.30% Pb, and 4.18% Zn.
Projects
["## Johnson Tract Project\n\n### Overview of the Johnson Tract Project\n\n### EXCEPTIONAL HIGH-GRADE GOLD ASSET IN ACCESSIBLE SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA\n\nContango Silver & Gold acquired HighGold in July 2024 to focus on advancing the Johnson Tract Project – a project that fits the Contango Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) model. Johnson Tract (JT) is a polymetallic (gold, zinc, copper, silver, lead) project located near tidewater, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, USA. The 21,000-acre property includes the high-grade JT Deposit, a newly discovered Ellis Zone, and at least nine (9) other mineral prospects over a 12-kilometre strike length.\n\nHighGold acquired the Project through a lease agreement with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (“CIRI”), one of 12 land-based Alaska Native regional corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. CIRI is owned by more than 9,100 shareholders who are primarily of Alaska Native descent.\n\nOriginally explored from 1982 to 1995, the Project was inactive for almost 25 years prior to acquisition by HighGold in 2019. The large land package is underexplored and has significant exploration potential.\n\nContango will focus on expanding and developing the JT Deposit and Ellis Zones in addition to generating new discoveries. Contango is advancing elements that will facilitate eventual mining at the JT Deposit, including an expanded airstrip, an underground access ramp to expand and upgrade the resource, and a road to a barge landing at the coast. Baseline studies, permitting, and design work are underway.\n\nWith an existing high-grade resource at Johnson Tract that will only increase with further drilling, the Company is assessing opportunities for near term production. The JT project is conveniently located close to tidewater which presents a unique opportunity for directly shipping ore mined at JT by barge to an existing mill facility.\n\nThe JT Deposit hosts an Indicated Resource of 3.489 Mt grading 9.39 g/t gold equivalent (“AuEq”) comprised of 5.33 g/t Au, 6.0 g/t Ag, 0.56% Cu, 0.67% Pb and 5.21% Zn. The Inferred Resource of 0.706 Mt grading 4.76 g/t AuEq is comprised of 1.36 g/t Au, 9.1 g/t Ag, 0.59% Cu, 0.30% Pb, and 4.18% Zn.\n\nMetallurgical test work results indicate excellent recoveries with a gold recovery of >97% and base metal recoveries ranging from 80-90% to separate copper, zinc, and lead concentrates. Deleterious elements generally occur in low concentrations.\n\nSelect JT Deposit drill intersections include:\n\n- 108.6 m grading 10.4 g/t Au, 7.6% Zn, 0.7% Cu, 2.0% Pb and 8 g/t Ag (JT82-004 Original Discovery)\n- 71.4 m grading 20.9 g/t Au, 9.8% Zn, 0.9% Cu, 1.6% Pb, and 9 g/t Ag (JT88-034)\n- 137.7 m grading 11.3 g/t Au, 2.4% Zn, 0.5% Cu, 0.5% Pb, and 4 g/t Ag (JT93-067)\n- 107.8 m grading 12.4 g/t Au, 7.1% Zn, 0.9% Cu, 1.6% Pb, and 9 g/t Ag (JT19-082)\n- 75.1 m grading 10.0 g/t Au, 9.4% Zn, 0.6% Cu, 1.1% Pb, and 6 g/t Ag (JT19-090)\n- 74.1 m grading 17.9 g/t Au, 7.3% Zn, 0.5% Cu, 1.3% Pb, and 7 g/t Ag (JT20-092)\n- 56.6 m grading 19.3 g/t Au, 2.4% Zn, 0.5% Cu, 0.4% Pb, and 3.9 g/t Ag (JT21-125)\n- 120.5 m grading 18.8 g/t Au, 3.9% Zn, 0.6% Cu, 0.9% Pb, and 6 g/t Ag (JT22-152)\n\nThe outcropping Ellis Zone was drill tested in 1983 by Anaconda Copper with two drillholes. The zone was not tested again until HighGold drilled 577.9 g/t Au and 2,023 g/t Ag over 6.40 m in hole DC21-010 in 2021. HighGold continues to grow the Ellis Zone with the objective of generating an initial resource estimate for the new discovery.\n\nSelect Ellis Zone drill intersections include:\n\n- 6.4 m grading 577.0 g/t Au, 2023 g/t Ag, 2.15% Zn, 0.3% Cu, and 0.23% Pb (DC21-010)\n- 42.8 m grading 3.4 g/t Au, 23.3 g/t Ag, 0.21% Cu, 0.83% Pb, 2.06% Zn (DC22-036)\n- 35.2 m grading 4.2 g/t Au, 6.1 g/t Ag, 0.12% Cu, 1.4% Pb, 3.19% Zn (DC22-045)\n- 14.8 m grading 10.14 g/t Au, 13.8 g/t Ag, 0.28% Cu, 0.46% Pb, 5.97% Zn (DC22-046)\n\n##### Project History\n\nThe Johnson Tract drill discovery was made by Anaconda Minerals in 1982.\n\nPast work (1982-1995) included eighty-eight (88) drill holes for a total of 26,840 meters, and major engineering and mining related studies by Westmin Resources Ltd. that evaluated direct shipping ore to their Premier mill in Stewart, British Columbia.\n\nPast work prioritized engineering at the expense of exploration, resulting in significant untested exploration potential.\n\nThe Project reverted to CIRI in the late 1990s and saw no work until HighGold acquired the project in 2019.\n\n##### Agreement with CIRI\n\nHighGold’s lease agreement is with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (“CIRI”), one of 12 land-based Alaska Native Regional Corporations created by the Alaska Native Claims Act (ANCSA) of 1971. CIRI selected the Johnson Tract lands through ANCSA and, in addition to mineral and surface rights, CIRI was also granted port and transportation easement across adjoining parkland to support the extraction of minerals.\n\nThe lease agreement has an “Initial Term” of 10-years, followed by a 5-year “Development Term” to achieve a mine construction decision, and then a “Production Term” that will continue for so long as operations and commercial production are maintained. Minimum exploration expenditure and annual lease payments are required to maintain the lease until production. CIRI maintains certain NSR royalty rights and a back-in right for up to a 25% participating interest.\n\n| | |\n| --- | --- |\n| Location | Southcentral Alaska, USA |\n| Ownership | Highgold Mining Lease agreement for 100% subject to certain back-in rights by CIRI. |\n| Status | Active Exploration |\n| Deposit Type | Epithermal with submarine volcanogenic attributes |\n| Property Size | 8,475 hectares (20,942 acres) |\n| Host Rock | Bimodal Volcaniclastic |\n| Age | Jurassic |\n| Main Economic Elements | Gold, Zinc, and Copper, with Lead and Silver credits |\n| Approximate Geometry | JT Deposit is a thick, steeply dipping body (20m to 50m average true thickness) |\n| Mineral Resource | 1,053,000 ounces AuEq @ 9.39 g/t AuEq Indicated<br>108,000 ounces AuEq @ 4.76 g/t AuEq Inferred |\n| Potential Mine Method | Underground |\n\n## JT DEPOSIT\n\nThe JT Deposit hosts an Indicated Resource of 3.489 Mt grading 9.39 g/t gold equivalent (“AuEq”) comprised of 5.33 g/t Au, 6.0 g/t Ag, 0.56% Cu, 0.67% Pb and 5.21% Zn. The Inferred Resource of 0.706 Mt grading 4.76 g/t AuEq is comprised of 1.36 g/t Au, 9.1 g/t Ag, 0.59% Cu, 0.30% Pb, and 4.18% Zn.\n\nThe high-grade Indicated Resource forms an average 40-m thick sub-vertical, tabular structure highly amenable to low-cost, bottom-up, bulk underground mining techniques. This exceptional width is 10x that of high-grade (>5 gpt AuEq) peers.\n\nLocked cycle flotation tests yielded very high-quality copper, zinc, lead and gold concentrates produced at a coarse primary grind with very good metal recoveries, low impurities, and negligible penalty elements. Highlights include:\n\n- Gold recovery of 97.2% combined total of payable gold to concentrates and leaching of tails.\n- Zinc recovery of 92.3% to a concentrate grading 52.6% zinc.\n- Copper recovery of 84.5% to a concentrate grading 30.6% copper.\n- Lead recovery of 72.4% to a concentrate grading 62.1% lead.\n- Gold pyrite concentrate grading 64.3 g/t gold.\n- Coarse primary grind size of 125 microns.\n\nThe JT Deposit is interpreted as an intermediate sulfidation epithermal deposit with volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) characteristics. Mineralization at the main JT Deposit forms a tabular silicified body that contains a stockwork of quartz-sulphide veins and breccia surrounded by a widespread zone of anhydrite-chlorite alteration, outboard to a widespread zone of pyrite-sericite alteration. Drilling has defined silicification and mineralization from surface to a vertical depth of approximately 350 meters, over a total strike length of over 600 meters, and to a maximum true width of 60 meters.\n\nThe JT Deposit is truncated to the southeast by the northeast striking, 5–10 m Dacite Fault. The hanging wall to the Dacite Fault is relatively unaltered quartz-feldspar porphyry, suggesting that part of the deposit has been offset. This offset remains a priority exploration target.\n\nHighGold continues to grow and build value at the JT Deposit, which is open in multiple directions, while also advancing engineering, technical studies, and permitting in support of advanced exploration and evaluation. These include designs and permitting for an expanded airstrip to accommodate aircraft that can carry large equipment, underground access to the base of the current JT deposit to both expand and upgrade the resource, and a road to a barge landing site at the coast.\n\n#### Resource Estimate\n\nTable 1. JT Deposit Mineral Estimate at 3.0 g/t AuEq Cut-off\n\n| Category | Tonnes<br>(000s) | Au<br>(g/t) | Ag<br>(g/t) | Cu<br>(%) | Pb<br>(%) | Zn<br>(%) | AuEq<br>(g/t) |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Indicated | 3,489 | 5.33 | 6.0 | 0.56 | 0.67 | 5.21 | 9.39 |\n| Inferred | 706 | 1.36 | 9.1 | 0.59 | 0.30 | 4.18 | 4.76 |\n| Contained Metal |\n| Category | | Au<br>(koz) | Ag<br>(koz) | Cu<br>(M lb) | Pb<br>(M lb) | Zn<br>(M lb) | AuEq |\n| Indicated | | 598 | 673 | 43.1 | 51.5 | 400.8 | 1,053 |\n| Inferred | | 31 | 207 | 9.2 | 4.7 | 65.1 | 108 |\n\nNotes\n\n01. Includes all drill holes completed at JT Deposit, with drilling completed between 1982 and as recently as October 2021\n02. Assumed metal prices are US$1650/oz for gold (Au), US$20/oz for silver (Ag), US$3.50/lb for copper (Cu), US$1.00/lb for lead (Pb), and US$1.50/lb for zinc (Zn)\n03. Gold Equivalent (“AuEq”) is based on assumed metal prices and an estimated metallurgical recovery of 97% for Au, 85% for Ag, 85% for Cu, 72% for Pb, and 92% for Zn based on metallurgical testwork completed in 2022\n04. AuEq equals = Au g/t + Ag g/t × 0.01 + Cu% × 1.27 + Pb% × 0.31 + Zn% × 0.59\n05. An average bulk density value of 2.84 was used as determined by conventional analytical methods for assay samples\n06. Capping was applied to assays to restrict the impact of high-grade outliers, resulting in the removal of 8.4% Au, 10.1% Ag, 2.8% Cu, 6.2% Pb, and 1.3% Zn from the resource block model as compared to an uncapped version.\n07. The economic underground mining cut-off is estimated to be 2.5g/t AuEq derived from the assumed operating cost of $65/t for long hole stope mining, $35/t processing and $20/t G&A and accounting for transport and smelter charges. HighGold elected to report this mineral resource at a higher cut-off grade of 3.0g/t Au, given the high-grade nature of the deposit.\n08. Preliminary underground constraints were applied, including the elimination of isolated or scattered blocks above cut-off grade to define the “reasonable prospects of eventual extraction” for the Mineral Resource Estimate.\n09. Mineral resources are reported as undiluted.\n10. Mineral resource tonnages have been rounded to reflect the precision of the estimate.\n11. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability."]
Leadership
Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse (CEO, and Director, Over 40 years of experience in the minerals mining industry. Previously served as President and CEO of Trilogy Metals Inc. and NOVAGOLD, Inc.), Shawn Khunkhun (President & Director, Over 20 years of experience in capital markets and mineral exploration, instrumental in enhancing shareholder value and growing mining companies.), Michael Clark (Chief Financial Officer, Previously served as CFO for Alexco Resource Corp. and Goldgroup Mining Inc., holds a degree from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and is a CPA.), Sunil Sharma (VP Finance, Over 20 years of experience in finance and accounting, previously CFO at Outcrop Silver and VP Finance at Trilogy Metals Inc.), Dave Larimer (VP Exploration, Over 20 years of experience in executing exploration programs, previously Chief Exploration Geologist for the Pogo Gold Mine.), Rob van Egmond (VP Exploration, Canada, Over 35 years of experience in international exploration and mining, has worked with major mining companies and junior explorers.), Chris Kennedy (VP Operations, 45 years in the mining industry with extensive experience in Alaska, has held senior positions in various mining operations.)

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