ak-gravel.com • (907) 746-4505 • Mine Development and Infrastructure • Earth Moving • Liner Installation and Welding • Roads, Dams and Bridge Construction • Shotcrete and Slurry • Structural Steel • Concrete Structures and Foundations • HDPE Piping Our flexibility and dedication have enabled us to become a top provider for the heavy civil construction and resource development industries. MOVING THE EARTH www.AlaskaMiners.org 39 repaid 36% of its loan and settled 30% of its hedge contracts, reducing the remaining balances to $38.3 million and 86,739 oz of gold, respectively. In the meantime, the first 2025 batch of Manh Choh ore is being processed through the Kinross Alaska mill at Fort Knox. It is estimated that 50,000 to 60,000 oz of gold will be produced during this batch, which will deliver between 15,000 to 18,000 oz to Contango. Overall, four similar-sized batches of Manh Choh ore are slated for processing this year, which equates to at least 60,000 oz of gold for Alaska's newest mining company. Contango plans to use the cash generated from Manh Choh production to develop similar direct shipping ore (DSO) mines at Johnson Tract and Lucky Shot – high-grade gold projects in Southcentral Alaska. Located in the historic Willow Creek Mining District about 100 road miles north of Anchorage, Lucky Shot encompasses three pre-World War II era underground mines – Coleman, Lucky Shot, and War Baby – that produced roughly 252,000 oz of gold from a high-grade vein system that extends for at least 1.5 miles across the property. Since acquiring Lucky Shot in 2021, Contango has worked to define a resource capable of supporting a high-grade direct shipping ore gold mine. This includes rehabilitating and extending the historical Enserch tunnel, which served as a platform for a 29-hole drill program the company carried out at the project in 2022. The next step for this small but high-grade project is to carry out close-spaced underground drilling focused on expanding the highgrade Luck Shot Vein to around 400,000 oz of gold in preparation for developing a mine that is expected to produce around 40,000 oz of gold per year. At the same time, Contango is rapidly advancing the Johnson Tract project on CIRI-owned Alaska Native lands about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage toward permitting. According to the most recent calculation, the JT Deposit at Johnson Tract hosts 3.49 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 5.33 grams per metric ton (598,000 ounces) 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. When you add up the value of all the metals, this comes to 9.4 g/t (1 million oz) gold-equivalent. This high-grade polymetallic gold deposit is located alongside Alaska's Cook Inlet, which offers the benefit of low-cost ocean shipping to transport direct shipping ore to a third-party mill for processing. A preliminary economic assessment offering an initial look at the envisioned JT Deposit mining operation is expected in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the precious metals produced at Manh Choh are flowing cash into the company's treasury. "This strong financial foundation supports critical permitting efforts at the Johnson Tract project and ongoing discussions regarding milling facilities for Johnson Tract and Lucky Shot ores using our direct ship ore approach," Van Nieuwenhuyse said. — Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News
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