Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse holds the first gold bar from Man Choh. (Photo: Contango Ore)

“From the first discovery hole to pouring the first bar of gold, it has certainly been a journey, but one that sets us up for future success,” said Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, president and CEO for Contango. “With the Peak Gold JV’s Manh Choh project now producing gold, we have a solid foundation to build Contango by employing a different, more disciplined model.”

Ore from Manh Choh is transported by highway ore haul trucks to a stockpile area at the Fort Knox mill complex. The use of the Fort Knox mill has accelerated the development of the project and resulted in significantly reduced upfront capital development costs, a smaller environmental footprint, a shorter permitting and development timeline, and less overall risk for the project.

Future projects, like the Lucky Shot and Johnson Tract projects, Van Nieuwenhuyse explained, represent highquality resources that are ideally suited for our unique direct ship ore (DSO) model. The company’s 5-year plan is to grow production from its existing portfolio to 200,000 gold equivalent ounces per year. Peak Gold LLC (70% Kinross, 30% Contango) has held the Manh Choh mining lease since 2008 on 675,000 acres of private lands owned by the Tetlin Tribe and administered by the Tetlin Tribal Council.