Start Of First Manh Choh Gold Campaign For 2025

FAIRBANKS - Contango ORE, Inc. President and CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, said, "We are very pleased with the extension of the maturity date for the Facility to mid-2027 to better align the New Repayment Schedule with the extended ore haul plan into 2029. The New Repayment Schedule will provide us with sufficient flexibility to continue to repay our debt and deliver into our hedge contracts while still leaving significant exposure to increased gold prices. This will allow the Company to realize strong cash flows from the remaining mine life for Manh Choh as well as continue critical permitting at the Johnson Tract project and advancing discussions to identify appropriate milling facilities for processing Johnson Tract and Lucky Shot ores.

The PGJV, operated by KG Mining Alaska, Inc. (Kinross), continues to pursue a number of initiatives to reduce costs and improve overall performance of operations, including ways to reduce moisture content in the ore and reduce ice, snow and mud build-up accumulated during the ore haul, which we expect to positively impact profitability moving forward. With the first campaign of 2025 having started and gold prices achieving new highs, we are confident that the Company remains on solid footing.

We are also pleased with the progress made to date on the previously announced preliminary economic assessment (the "PEA") on the Johnson Tract project. We expect the PEA to be completed and released in March.”