Sign in Subscribe
Gold

Contango ORE Inc. Completes Acquisition of HighGold Mining Inc.

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Contango ORE Inc. has successfully completed its acquisition of HighGold Mining Inc., a junior mineral exploration company with the 1-million-ounce Johnson Tract gold project in Southcentral Alaska. The acquisition marks a strategic move for Contango, leveraging the Johnson Tract property to complement its unique business model of advancing high-quality mine projects with the potential to produce direct shipping ore (DSO) to be processed through permitted and operating mills. The acquisition comes as Contango's DSO mining strategy is bearing fruit, as seen in the successful first gold pour from the Manh Choh project in eastern Alaska, which is shipping ore to the Kinross Alaska mill at the Fort Knox mine site.

Key Takeaways:

  • Contango ORE Inc. has completed the acquisition of HighGold Mining Inc., a junior mineral exploration company with the 1-million-ounce Johnson Tract gold project.
  • The acquisition complements Contango's unique business model of advancing high-quality mine projects with the potential to produce DSO to be processed through permitted and operating mills.
  • The Manh Choh project, a joint venture between Contango and Kinross Gold Corp., has achieved its first gold pour, shipping ore to the Kinross Alaska mill at the Fort Knox mine site.
  • Contango's DSO mining strategy has shown success, with the company aiming to grow annual gold-equivalent production to 200,000 oz.
  • The company is ramping up a drill program at Johnson Tract to collect information needed to permit and develop a tunnel for underground drilling.
  • The JT Deposit at Johnson Tract hosts 3.49 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 5.33 g/t (598,000 oz) gold, 6 g/t (673,000 oz) silver, 5.21% (400.8 million pounds) zinc, 0.59% (43.1 million lb) copper, and 0.67% (51.5 million lb) lead.

Statistics:

  • 1.7 million shares were issued to HighGold shareholders as part of the acquisition, valued at $33.57 million (C$45.74 million).
  • The Johnson Tract project contains 3.49 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 5.33 g/t (598,000 oz) gold, 6 g/t (673,000 oz) silver, 5.21% (400.8 million pounds) zinc, 0.59% (43.1 million lb) copper, and 0.67% (51.5 million lb) lead.
  • The JT Deposit at Johnson Tract hosts 1.05 million oz gold-equivalent.
  • Contango aims to grow annual gold-equivalent production to 200,000 oz over the next five years.
  • The Manh Choh project is expected to produce 225,000 oz of gold annually for the next 4.5 years, with Contango's 30% share being 67,500 oz.

Sources:

  • Contango ORE Inc. press release, July 10, 2022
  • Contango ORE Inc. CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse quoted in Global Data Point, no date specified
  • Kinross Gold Corp. press release, June 8, 2022 ( Celebrating the first gold pour at the Manh Choh project)

Read more