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Contango ORE Announces Commencement of Mining Operations at Manh Choh Mine and Re-Start of Drilling at Lucky Shot Mine
HOUSTON / Aug 30, 2023 / Business Wire / Contango ORE, Inc. (“Contango” or the “Company”) (NYSE American: CTGO) announced that mining operations have started at
About this update from Contango Silver & Gold Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"HOUSTON / Aug 30, 2023 / Business Wire / Contango ORE, Inc. (“Contango” or the “Company”) (NYSE American: CTGO) announced that mining operations have started at its 30% owned Manh Choh Mine (the “Project” or “Manh Choh”), located near Tok, Alaska, U.S.A. With all major contracts, bonding and permitting in place, the Project remains on track and on budget to bring Contango’s 30% interest in Manh Choh into production in the second half of 2024. Based on the Feasibility Study Technical Report Summary (“TRS”), the Manh Choh mine is expected to produce 225,000 gold equivalent ounces (“GEO”) per year over a 4.5 year mine life1. Contango’s share of production is expected to average 67,500 GEO per year. In addition, the Company has initiated a surface drilling program at its 100% owned Lucky Shot project. Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, President, and CEO said: “We are indeed excited to report that mining operations have commenced at Manh Choh and that the construction phase has been achieved on budget and on schedule. The opening at the Manh Choh mine was officially celebrated with a ground-breaking ceremony on August 29th. In attendance were the Governor of Alaska, Michael Dunlevy, Tetlin Tribal Chief, Michael Sam, and Tribal Council members, as well as representatives from both Kinross and Contango. At this point, mining operations primarily consist of pre-stripping activities, with any ore encountered to be stockpiled for later transport by road haul trucks to the Fort Knox mill for processing. Meanwhile, mill modification activities continue at the Fort Knox mill with an emphasis on completing outdoor activities before winter arrives. The project continues to be on track to achieve commercial production in H2 2024.” At the Lucky Shot project, the Company initiated a surface exploration drill program on the Coleman segment of the Lucky Shot vein. Figure 2 shows the drill pad that will be used to drill a series of 12 to 15 drill holes totaling approximately 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) in a fan pattern to in-fill and extend the Coleman Segment of the Lucky Shot vein. As previously reported on June 12, 2023, in the Technical Report Summary for the Lucky Shot project2, the Coleman Segment of the Lucky Shot vein contains an estimated 95,092 ounces of Indicated gold resource averaging 15.6 grams per metric tonne (“g/t”) (0.455 ounces per short ton (...