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Organization and Business
3 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization and Business
Organization and Business
Contango ORE, Inc. (“CORE” or the “Company”) is a Houston-based company that engages in the exploration in Alaska for gold and associated minerals through a joint venture company, Peak Gold, LLC. The Company was formed on September 1, 2010 as a Delaware corporation for the purpose of engaging in the exploration in the State of Alaska for gold ore and associated minerals. The Company currently has two wholly owned subsidiaries, AU Core, Inc. and CORE Alaska, LLC. AU CORE, Inc. historically owned unpatented mining claims. Those claims were transferred to the Joint Venture Company in January 2015. CORE participates in the Joint Venture Company through its wholly owned subsidiary, CORE Alaska, LLC.
On November 29, 2010, Contango Mining Company (“Contango Mining”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Contango Oil & Gas Company (“Contango”), assigned its properties and certain other assets and liabilities to Contango. Contango contributed the properties and $3.5 million of cash to the Company, in exchange for approximately 1.6 million shares of the Company’s common stock, which were distributed to Contango's shareholders of record. The above transactions occurred among companies under common control and was accounted for as transactions among entities under common control, in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 805, "Business Combinations" whereby the acquired assets and liabilities were recognized in the financial statements at their carrying amounts.
Since the Company is still in an exploration stage, an investment in the Company involves a high degree of risk and uncertainty. The Company’s fiscal year end is June 30.
The properties contributed by Contango included: (i) a 100% leasehold interest in an estimated 675,000 acres (the “Tetlin Lease”) from the Tetlin Village Council, the council formed by the governing body for the Native Village of Tetlin, an Alaska Native Tribe (the "Tetlin Village Council"); (ii) approximately 18,021 acres in unpatented mining claims from the state of Alaska for the exploration of gold ore and associated minerals. If any of the properties are placed into commercial production, the Company would be obligated to pay a 3.0% production royalty to Royal Gold, Inc. ("Royal Gold"). On September 29, 2014, Juneau Exploration L.P. (“JEX”) sold its 3.0% production royalty to Royal Gold. See Note 10 - Related Party Transactions.

In September 2012, the Company and JEX entered into an Advisory Agreement in which JEX assisted the Company in acquiring 474 unpatented state of Alaska mining claims consisting of 71,896 acres for the exploration of gold ore and associated minerals in exchange for a 2.0% production royalty on properties acquired after July 1, 2012. If any such properties are placed into commercial production, the Company would be obligated to pay JEX a 2.0% production royalty under the Advisory Agreement. On September 29, 2014, JEX sold its 2.0% production royalty to Royal Gold and the Company terminated its Advisory Agreement with JEX. See Note 10 - Related Party Transactions.

On September 29, 2014, the Company entered into a Master Agreement (the “Master Agreement”) with Royal Gold, pursuant to which the parties agreed, subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions, to form a joint venture to advance exploration and development of the Tetlin Properties (as defined below), prospective for gold ore and associated minerals (the “Transactions”). The Transactions closed on January 8, 2015 (the "Closing").

In connection with the Closing, the Company contributed its Tetlin Lease and state of Alaska mining claims near Tok, Alaska (the "Tetlin Property"), together with other property, to Peak Gold, LLC, a newly formed limited liability company (the “Joint Venture Company”).  The Joint Venture Company is managed according to a Limited Liability Company Agreement between subsidiaries of Royal Gold and the Company    . At the Closing, Royal Gold made an initial investment of $5 million to fund exploration activity. The initial $5 million does not give Royal Gold an equity stake in the Joint Venture Company. Royal Gold will have the option to obtain up to 40% economic interest in the joint venture by investing up to $30 million (inclusive of the initial $5 million investment) prior to October 2018. The proceeds of Royal Gold’s investment will be used by the Joint Venture Company for additional exploration of the Tetlin Property. Royal Gold will initially serve as the Manager of the Joint Venture Company and will manage, direct, and control operations of the Joint Venture Company. As of September 30, 2016, Royal Gold has contributed a total of $13.4 million to the Joint Venture Company and has earned an economic interest of approximately 15.1%.

The Company has completed six years of exploration efforts on the Tetlin Properties, which has resulted in identifying two mineral deposits (Peak and North Peak) and several other gold and copper prospects. In 2016, two phases of exploration drilling were completed by the Joint Venture Company on the Tetlin Property. During the quarter ended September 30, 2016, the Joint Venture Company completed Phase II of the 2016 drilling program, which targeted three areas, North Peak, West Peak, and Connector Zones to better define the areas with known mineralization.