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Note 1 - Organization and Business | 12 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2022
Notes to Financial Statements |
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block] | 1. Organization and Business Contango ORE, Inc. (“CORE” or the “Company”) engages in exploration for gold ore and associated minerals in Alaska. The Company conducts its operations through three primary means:
| ● | a 30.0% membership interest in Peak Gold, LLC (the “Peak Gold JV”), which leases approximately 675,000 acres from the Tetlin Tribal Council and holds approximately 13,000 additional acres of State of Alaska mining claims (such combined acreage, the “Peak Gold JV Property”) for exploration and development, including in connection with the Peak Gold JV's plan to mine ore from the Main and North Manh Choh deposits within the Peak Gold JV Property (the “Manh Choh Project”);
| ● | its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alaska Gold Torrent, LLC, an Alaska limited liability company (“AGT”), which leases the mineral rights to approximately 8,600 acres of State of Alaska and patented mining claims for exploration from Alaska Hard Rock, Inc., which includes three former producing gold mines located on patented claims in the Willow Mining District about 75 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska (the “Lucky Shot Property”) (See Note 9 - Acquisition of Lucky Shot Property); and
| ● | its wholly-owned subsidiary, Contango Minerals Alaska, LLC (“Contango Minerals”), which separately owns the mineral rights to approximately 214,600 acres of State of Alaska mining claims for exploration, including (i) approximately 139,100 acres located immediately northwest of the Peak Gold JV Property (the “Eagle/Hona Property”), (ii) approximately 14,800 acres located northeast of the Peak Gold JV Property (the “Triple Z Property”), (iii) approximately 52,700 acres of property in the Richardson district of Alaska staked by the Company in the first quarter of 2021 (the “Shamrock Property”) and (iv) approximately 8,000 acres located to the north and east of the Lucky Shot Property (the “Willow Property” and, together with the Shamrock Property, the Eagle/Hona Property and the Triple Z Property, collectively the “Minerals Property”),
The Lucky Shot Property and the Minerals Property are collectively referred to in these Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements as the “Contango Properties”. The Company is in an exploration stage. The Company’s fiscal year end is June 30. The Company has been involved in the exploration on the Manh Choh Project for twelve years, which has resulted in identifying two mineral deposits (Main and North Manh Choh) and several other gold, silver, and copper prospects. The Peak Gold JV plans to mine ore from the Main and North Manh Choh deposits and then process the ore at the existing Fort Knox mining and milling complex located approximately 250 miles (400 km) away. The use of the Fort Knox facilities is expected to accelerate the development of the Peak Gold JV Property and result in significantly reduced upfront capital development costs, smaller environmental footprint, a shorter permitting and development timeline and less overall execution risk for the Peak Gold JV to advance the Main and North Manh Choh deposits to a production decision, as the Fort Knox facilities have existing operations as opposed to developing, permitting and building a new mill and processing facilities. ThePeak Gold JV will be charged a toll for using the Fort Knox facilities. A toll milling agreement is expected to be finalized once a feasibility study has been completed. The Peak Gold JV spent approximately $15.8 million on its 2021 drilling program and completed approximately 33,000 ft. of drilling on the Manh Choh Project in 2021. The majority of the activity was directed towards in-fill drilling to support a detailed mine plan and feasibility study with additional drilling to support on-going geotechnical, metallurgical, environmental studies and water quality data collection. In addition, the Peak Gold JV submitted a permitting package to the US Army Corps of Engineers for the Wetlands Dredge and Fill permit, also known as a 404 permit, just prior to the end of 2021. On December 17, 2021, the Peak Gold JV initially approved a budget of $47.9 million for its 2022 program. At a meeting of the Management Committee of Peak Gold JV (the “Management Committee”) held on February 14, 2022, Kinross Gold Corporation (“Kinross”), the manager of Peak Gold JV, presented updated information that resulted in a decrease in its 2022 spending program to approximately $26.0 million. However, on August 4, 2022 the Management Committee voted to increase the 2022 budget to $39.6 million, of which our total share is $11.9 million for the year. The 2022 budget covers the following areas of work: feasibility study, permitting, on-going environmental monitoring, community engagement, engineering, early construction, and exploration. The Peak Gold JV released a feasibility study in July 2022. Also, in July 2022, Kinross announced that its board of directors (the “Kinross Board”) made a decision to proceed with development of the project. The early works program has begun at the project, with camp refurbishments, earthworks and road construction now underway. At the Lucky Shot Property, the Company has engaged Atkinson Construction and Major Drilling as contractors to execute the planned 2022 exploration/development program to advance the Enserch Tunnel to the footwall of the area where it expected to locate the Lucky Shot vein and drift 1500 foot parallel and set up drill stations every 75 feet. The Company began pilot hole drilling in late June 2022, with a plan to drill approximately 3200 meters (~10,000 feet) from underground into what it believes to be the down-dip projection of the previously identified area where it expected to locate the Lucky Shot vein. The assays from the drilling program are not available yet, however the Company intersected the area in four out of four exploration drill holes from the “West Ballroom” located on the west side of the tunnel. A fifth hole is planned from the West Ballroom to be followed by five additional pilot holes from the East Ballroom. On the Shamrock Property, the Company conducted soil and surface rock chip sampling during 2021. Follow up trenching and detailed geologic mapping is planned for the summer of 2023. At the Eagle/Hona Property, the Company carried out a detailed reconnaissance of the northern and eastern portions of the large claim block that had not previously been detail sampled. Due to the steep topography, a helicopter was used to execute the program safely. Follow up geologic mapping and sampling is planned for the summer of 2023. The Company’s 30.0% membership interest in the Peak Gold JV, its ownership of AGT and Contango Minerals, and cash on hand constitute substantially all of the Company’s assets. Background Information 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. On January 8, 2015, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, CORE Alaska, LLC (“CORE Alaska”), and a subsidiary of Royal Gold, Inc. (“Royal Gold”) formed the Peak Gold JV. On September 30, 2020, CORE Alaska sold a 30.0% membership interest (the “CORE JV Interest”) in the Peak Gold JV to KG Mining (Alaska), Inc. (“KG Mining”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Kinross. The sale is referred to as the “CORE Transactions”. Concurrently with the CORE Transactions, KG Mining, in a separate transaction, acquired 100% of the equity of Royal Alaska, LLC from Royal Gold, which held Royal Gold’s 40.0% membership interest in the Peak Gold JV (the “Royal Gold Transactions” and, together with the CORE Transactions, the “Kinross Transactions”). After the consummation of the Kinross Transactions, CORE Alaska retained a 30.0% membership interest in the Peak Gold JV. KG Mining now holds a 70.0% membership interest in the Peak Gold JV and Kinross serves as the manager and operator of the Peak Gold JV.

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