Contango reports 17,000 ounces of gold from latest production campaign

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Contango ORE, Inc. (NYSE American:CTGO), whose stock has surged 149.7% year-to-date and is trading near its 52-week high of $25.21, announced Thursday that its Peak Gold Joint Venture has completed its third production campaign of 2025, yielding approximately 17,000 ounces of gold for Contango’s 30% share of the operation. According to InvestingPro data, the company, currently valued at $363 million, is expected to achieve profitability this year.

The company also reported receiving a $33 million cash distribution from the joint venture, bringing its total distributions for the year to $87 million.

According to the company’s statement, the production campaign ran from August 12 through September 15 and processed approximately 287,000 tons of ore with an average grade of 0.214 ounces per ton. The operation achieved a 92.5% gold recovery rate, resulting in approximately 56,800 ounces of recovered gold overall.

Contango also disclosed that it has reduced its outstanding hedge contract balance to 49,300 ounces of gold and decreased its credit facility debt by 37% to $14.6 million after an early repayment of $8.5 million.

The company stated that the Village of Dot Lake has dismissed its lawsuit against the United States Army Corps of Engineers, in which Peak Gold LLC was an intervenor-defendant, noting this dismissal has favorable implications for the Manh Choh project.

Contango now expects cash distributions for 2025 from the Peak Gold JV to exceed $100 million, based on a projected gold price of $3,500 per ounce for the remainder of the year.

The Peak Gold JV is currently conducting a test campaign blending Manh Choh and Fort Knox ores at approximately a 1:10 ratio to evaluate potential efficiency improvements, with results expected in early October.

Contango holds a 30% interest in the Peak Gold JV, with the remaining 70% owned by KG Mining (Alaska), Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corporation, which operates the joint venture.

In other recent news, Contango ORE, Inc. reported a significant financial turnaround for the second quarter of 2025, achieving operating earnings of $23 million compared to a $3.1 million loss in the same period last year. The company’s net income reached $16 million, contrasting with an $18.5 million net loss in Q2 2024. However, the earnings per share of $1.24 did not meet analysts’ expectations, which had forecasted a loss of $0.0367 per share, resulting in an earnings surprise of -3478.75%. Additionally, Contango ORE closed a $50 million underwritten public offering, consisting of 1,975,000 common shares priced at $20.00 per share to two institutional investors. The offering also included a pre-funded warrant for 525,000 shares at $19.99 per share. The proceeds are intended to support exploration and development at the company’s Lucky Shot and Johnson Tract properties in Alaska. Contango ORE aims to increase its gold production from 60,000 ounces to 200,000 ounces annually through a direct ship ore model. Canaccord Genuity acted as the Sole Bookrunner for the offering, with Cormark Securities as Lead Manager and several firms as Co-Managers.

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