Contango Ore, Inc. ($CTGO)

[Audio Gap] about safety, security that celebrate grade. Look, the last 15, 16 years in the precious metals arena has been very, very difficult up until just the last, say, 6 months or so, it's been a very depressed environment. And for those who have survived and thrived Contango and Dolly Varden were the exception in the industry. And the strong survive and thrive now that the market's turned and projects are becoming very, very economic. So what investors have to look forward to is a new entry a company that has the ambition to become a mid-tier producer focused on precious metals in North America. I think what's unique about this company is, in addition to having Month is a very special project. It's one of the highest grade open pit gold mines on the planet, and it's located in safe Alaska. And then you've got lucky shot that there's a new discovery that was made and announced in February and an ongoing drilling there, and that's a project that's permitted high grade and could be back in production very, very soon, as early as 2028. So you've got the Manh Choh production that's going to be -- it's going to have a record year next year. The company is well funded. We're doing boring but important work at Johnson Track. And then from a growth perspective, what excites me is as Rick said, we're spending about $50 million on enhancing this portfolio. And a lot of that is going into exploration. And if you look back at the company's history, going back 5 or 6 years, we've been up there in the top 10 drill results in the industry in both silver and gold. So having a, call it, a 50,000-meter exploration budget across the portfolio, it's going to generate a lot of those types of results that's garnered that growth. So it's exciting. I think we really are going to attract the investor who celebrates good balance sheet strong cash flow, that's the differentiator. You've got to see [indiscernible] that are -- they don't have the funding to advance. They're relying on share issuances and dilution. So we've got the cash flow. We've got the treasury, we've got the pipeline and the growth. So it's -- what I'm really excited about, my skill set coming into this is marketing. I've been marketing companies have raised billions of dollars for companies in the last couple of decades. I worked with 1 of the most famous and legendary mining [indiscernible] peers on the planet, [indiscernible] just have learned from him over the last 4 years. So what I'm excited about is Contango moving into the [indiscernible] office being one of the foundational companies, the largest market cap cos here and working with Rick and his team and Mike Clarke to share the value proposition. And again, I just think we're in an environment year I don't think we've ever been in a time in history where you've got the governments at the federal level in the U.S. at the federal level with the [indiscernible] administration. We've got projects. I can speak on the Canadian side of the border here. This is the most important mining jurisdiction in Canada from the density of minds, from the infrastructure, from First Nations and Rick's experience [indiscernible], it's really exciting. So looking forward to hit the real in the first quarter and share that message.

Awesome. Appreciate it. do love the perspective the grit it took to get through the last couple of years. People forget I didn't see a single smile at Beaver Creek for 4 years. So you'll forget that's tough was to get through some of these. But there's a question I want to ask because this is on everybody's mind. It's already come up in the chat. I know people asked about it. I want to zoom out and talk about the market and the stock price for a second because obviously, people do ask questions. Gold pull back from highs well over 5,000 to today. Last I checked just under 400 silver corrected from all the way in the 10 teens down to today under 70%. I know a lot of this -- we don't have an end Middle Eastern Wars but as much as we'd like to. But I'd love to ask, and Rick, I can start with you here, what advice can you give for investors relative to Contango Silver and Gold's future about the market?

Yes. I mean, look, I've always said role in emotional mill. And I think silver in that vein, silver is at [indiscernible]. It's just more volatile. It has -- it identifies itself I guess it has a catastrophe. It's like, I don't know if I'm an industrial metal, I don't know if I'm precious. So that's the -- that's just the environment we're in. And something likely around or happens, everybody goes to the dollar. That's where the big money goes, the index money goes, okay? I'm not sure what's going on, not sure how it's going to affect my investment portfolio. I'm just going to go to the dollar. And so the dollar strengthens, the metals retreat. And it's been dramatic. I mean, the metals are down. I think gold is down 20-plus percent, silver is down. If you want to take the peak to trough, it's down almost 50%. So yes, it's been dramatic. When [indiscernible] and [indiscernible] are all down 30%, of course, we're going to be down. And yes, it's a tough environment to get a merger done in just not because the work is the same, but we're watching your share price going down, you're like, okay, this isn't fun. But what you have to do is look at the long term. What are we building here? Why investing in gold? You're investing in gold for the future. You're investing in silver for the the future, not for today. And that's the company we're building is a company that's looking forward, and that's exactly what contango means. That's the future -- the delta between the present price and the future price. And so we're [ building company for ] the future. We've got a great portfolio. We've got cash flow. We've got a [indiscernible] we're starting [indiscernible]. We've got US 100 million in the bank over. And we're generating on average $100 million of free cash flow from Manh Choh. So we worked our way through the hedge book. We've paid off most of our debt. So we're poised for growth. And the gold and silver market is going to do what they're going to do. We have 0 control over what's happening in the Middle East. What we can control is our budgets, and we can spend money prudently and make sure that we're investing that money to get a return for shareholders in the future.

I will throw it to you for your perspective on just current markets and the share price change.

Yes, absolutely. Well, I think I'd like to be solution-oriented, right, and learn from the past, if you go back to 2 recent crisis, 2020, 2008 in both instances, gold sold off initially sold off that you go back to '08, it was $1,000. It went to [ $680 ] and we're seeing the same thing happen here, as Rick said, in a time of crisis, you go to things that you can sell that you have liquidity. We're in a world right now where there's record debt levels the cost of carrying, you've got economic slowdowns. So gold is one of the few liquid assets that you can go to and get liquidity during a time of crisis. And so when I focus on [indiscernible] is you look at Manh Choh, that was built when gold was sub $2,000 an ounce, right? It was built when you were really modeling $1,400, $1,500 gold environment. And if you think about the all-in sustaining costs throughout the life of mine, whether gold is $3,000 $4,000, $4,500, $5,000. It's a very, very profitable operation. And I think 1 thing that I've learned as Rick and I have known each other for a while, but we've really got to know each other well over the last 6 months. And he's reminded me something that's resonated throughout my entire career. [indiscernible] King. And our whole differentiator here, in addition to the cash flow and the location is the grade. We've got some of the highest grade gold and silver projects anywhere on the planet. And so I think for the investor, I know for myself, successful precious metals investors are contrarian. You've got to buy and when you're scared, right? And if you look at this opportunity right now, the company was valued at twice what it is today, just 2 months ago, what's changed -- what's changed is that certainty of the merger is out of the way. And if you study mergers, you look at Equinox calibers, the most recent example, they underperformed as they were merging as soon as they completed their merger, they were revalued. So I think that's the opportunity here. And I think the investors should take advantage of that.

Awesome. Appreciate it. And it's important for people to remember, have a longer memory with gold price. I remember, Rick, we were on a conversation 2 years ago somebody whispered 2,400 and it made the room go silent a scarily high number as the time to change. But I do want to talk about Manh Choh. And Rick, I'll throw this 1 to you because I know deck on your website right now modeled Manh Choh economics 3,200 gold. So even after the pullback we've seen, we're still sitting at [ $43 75 ] as of today or [ 43 80 ] somewhere in there. That's still a pretty big windfall above base case. So how does that change the math from Manh Choh on both life of mine free cash flow? And does it accelerate any development time lines for that kind of growing arsenal of strong contango projects that you get.

Yes. No, it [indiscernible] just underpins the cash flow. This year, here's our guidance. This has always been the low year production for Manh Choh and the highest cost because we're transitioning from the north pit to the south pit. So there's a lot of pre-stripping and shipping to do to get down to the ore at the south pit. So we're guiding 45,000 ounces of gold equivalent. It is mostly gold and at a cost of $1,900 to 2,000. So relatively high cost in the overall mine line. We had the benefit of that next year because we'll be -- we're guiding 75,000 to 80,000 ounces of production $1,300, $1,400 cash all-in sustaining cost. So on average, it's going to average 60,000 ounces like we've always said and always guided. And on average, well next year, the cash flows are going to be ridiculous. [indiscernible] couple of hundred million dollars at today's gold prices. So bottom line, we're going to be -- the Manh Choh operation is managed and operated by [indiscernible] large company. They're going to remain conservative on their assumptions. That's good for us. That makes -- that keeps us on the straight and narrow, so to speak. We're not going to be talking wild stuff and -- but it's a constant nice cash flow. And so this year, I think we have about $50 million of free cash flow at the guidance that we're giving. I think you'll see our website updated here shortly, and I think we're using 3700 now for for our guidance in terms of free cash flow in our base case, is gone from [indiscernible] now up to 37. And so yes, I mean it's just -- it's unusual in the business to have that sort of nice cash flow generating machine. And we're going to spend about $50 million in exploration on all the projects this year. And so we're going to make about $50 million from onco and we've got $100 million -- over $100 million in the bank. So this is a well-capitalized company, and we're going to spend our money. We're not going to be bullish about this. We're going to be very disciplined in how we spend our money. We do want to advance the projects. And so we have a very specific plan to execute. But I'm confident we can execute because we've got the team to do that. And we had our first organizational all hands on deck organizational meeting earlier this week and I think [indiscernible]. So exciting times.

That's great. Like obviously, everybody loves and [indiscernible], gets a check. It's always a good news day for everybody. Shawn, I'll ask you a question. And I only ask this because there are some new folks in the room that are new to both stories because we got the advantage of already knowing the overwhelming number [indiscernible] shareholders agree with opinion, you're about to give. But I'm curious for those who are in the room, walk us through why merging into a producing company was the right path versus continuing to develop Kitsault as a stand-alone. What is this platform -- Rick just talked about give you that I didn't have on your own?

Well, I moved [indiscernible] into the [indiscernible] office about 4 years ago and working alongside [indiscernible], I got to know something that Frank describes as the buy-and-build strategy. And it's a strategy where you diversify into assets. You're not just focused on 1 asset company. And it's a strategy that's worked for entrepreneurs from [indiscernible], to [indiscernible], [indiscernible] to [indiscernible]. And so as much as I believe in the Kitsault Valley, it's a district we have 100,000 hectares. We have 5 pass producing high-grade silver mines, richest silver mine in the British Empire. Canada's third largest silver producer. It's the #1 jurisdiction in Canada. Getting exposure to neighboring Alaska, the cash flow, the pipeline. But I think what put it over the line for me is the team. And it was Rick. It was Rick, it was Mike, it was Bonnie, it was -- and that expertise, like if you go back to 2020 we were in a lockdown, we were in a pandemic. If you go back and study Manh Choh, that's exactly when the feasibility came out, and I think it was 2021. And in that environment, a very difficult, challenging environment where you had massive inflation, a lot of uncertainty. Within a 2.5-year period, they were they were producing. In 2024, I think there was 42,000 ounces of production. So to be able to navigate that, and Contango is 1 example of Rick's expertise. I look at Trilogy, [indiscernible]. And so partnering with an experienced management team that could take the Kitsault Valley, which our group of explorers have done a phenomenal job growing, expanding. I brought the capital. We've done a number of M&A transactions that were wildly accretive, but be able to now develop permit turned back into production, that's a skill set that we welcome from the contango side.

Amazing. I appreciate that answer. Rick, I'm going to zoom in on Johnson Tract for a second because I know we've brought up a couple of times. I just want to really get into that project. I know the initial assessment came out May that post-tax [indiscernible] 30% IRR. I was using 2,200 gold, a fantastic number. We haven't heard in a long time. Gold has today doubled that number the sensitivity analysis barely even covers it. It's not even -- doesn't even get to those numbers. So can you paint a picture of what Johnson Tract economics actually look like in, we'll call it today's price environment?

Yes. Actually, I think technically, we can't talk about it because it's not in our in our SK 1300, we were able to convince our QPs that we should put a $4,000 gold price in there. So according to the security reuse, I'm not supposed to talk about a bigger number, but yes, that was [indiscernible] then being wildly optimistic that we put a $4,000 number in there, and the NPV of the project is well over $600 million. What I really like about -- it doesn't matter whether it's a $3,000, $4,000 or $2,200 gold price, it's got a 1-year payback, which is unheard of in our business. And so this is a -- it's a beautiful ore body. Average is 40 meters wide, over 9 grams per tonne gold equivalent. It's polymetallic. We're going to -- that's where we really see the synergies with the Kitsault Valley ores because they're sulfide polymetallic there's silver bias. The Johnson Tract is more of a gold-rich polymetallic deposit. But they're going to be processed by the same kind of [indiscernible]. And so that's where we really saw the big synergies there. And that's where -- we can see our growth profile from Manh Choh at [indiscernible], 50,000 ounces at Johnson Tract and Kitsault and are producing over 100,000 ounces of gold and 5 million to 10 million ounces of silver. So it's a hell of a portfolio. And right now, we're permitting Johnson Track. We're part of the FAST-41 dashboard. We finally have an administration that not only recognizes that metals are critical and that we have a whole class of metals called critical metals now. But they're actively, proactively saying, okay, we want mining. We're going to help get more mines permitted, and that's the objective of FAST-41. FAST-41 under Obama was [indiscernible]. So it's not big invented by the Trump administration, but the Trump administration sees it as a priority to get more mines producing more metal. So yes, it's great to have both a state and a federal government now solidly behind mining projects.

I appreciate that. Shawn, I'm going to jump to you for kids eat updates. I know the Wolf Vein keeps delivering pretty crazy numbers, 1,422 grams per tonne silver over 21 meters with 10,700 grams per tonne over a meter in the latest step out holes. You got an updated resource coming Q2 2026, I believe, what should investors be expecting. There's a lot of them in the room today from that update? And how will that feeding to the path towards PEA at Kitsault?

Yes. I think one thing I want to start with is this is just a point in time, right? Like this resource it's going to be, I think, a significant improvement in growth on the silver side. The guidance I've given previously was a 50% increase in terms of the silver ounces. On the gold side, I think you're going to see about a 50% conversion up at home stake. So really, the way to look at the project is you have 2 centers of gravity, -- you've got the silver-centric [indiscernible] which is the Turbot horizon, which makes them the past producing mines. And then you've got the Gold rich North. And in the Gold rich North, 80% of the resource was inferred. And the biggest risk or challenge a resource investor has is conversion. And I think what we saw with the drill results that we put out in the last few years is we were actually surprised to the upside in terms of the grade and the consistency of the veins like we had identified a very wide, high-grade plunge to the ore body at both [indiscernible] and what we call [ Homestake ] Silver. And so I think what you'll see here is a 50% increase in the number of silver ounces a 50% conversion on those inferred indicated ounces. And as we move categories there, we're currently sitting on about a 4.5 gram inferred resource, whereas the indicated resources over 7 grams. So I think you're going to see that grade, about a 50% increase to that grade as well. So all in all, I think it's going to be a very strong resource upgrade. But the key is we've maybe explored 2% of the property. And Rick described some of those super deposits as a string of pearls. And the real opportunity on the project is there's about a 5-kilometer gap in the Wolf Vein and Homestake Silver. And I suspect it's a structurally controlled corridor, we could fit another 3 major deposits. And so right now, the company -- the project contains about 64 million ounces of silver in all categories, 1 million ounces of gold that will be upgraded with the 200,000 meters of drilling we've done. But by no means is it going to be the be all and end all of the project. And I think with the 40,000 meters of drilling that we've got that's going to kick off here in the spring, we're going to see -- we're going to -- some of that will be growth oriented, and we'll be looking -- we had some big results last year where we drilled on the other side of faults saw mineralization 20 kilometers away from known resources. We've got a big land package, and we're putting -- we're investing a lot of dollars into that continued growth.

It's an exciting 5 kilometers. So that's fun to see what it comes next. Rick, one thing I want to ask you because I know there's a lot of Dolly shareholders in the room and also new people to the story. The direct ship ore model, rocks in a boxes, I know you'd like to say, central to a lot of what Contango does I heard somebody call you DSO Rick at [indiscernible] this year, which I thought was very funny. But it's not something I think a lot of investors are familiar with. So if you could break down for folks in the room, why shipping organ existing mill is a game changer for permitting time lines, CapEx, environmental footprint, et cetera.

Yes. I mean it is a little different approach, and it's not that it hasn't been done before. It certainly has in the Australians are certainly -- they're probably the kings and cleans of the DSO model, a central hub and spoke, central milling [indiscernible] we just happen to be able to take advantage of it with Manh Choh because it was high grade, and we looked at the fact we could build our own mill and tailings facility, but it would cost a lot of money and for a junior company, raising $500 million or $600 million to build a new mill. One, it's a lot of capital; but two, it's a lot of time. And that [indiscernible] just match you right in the face again because you've got to do the boring stuff to get -- to be able to build a mill and the tailings facility. You've got to collect [indiscernible] do all the engineering work you've got to to do all the permitting work, and that's a boring time for investors. And so you're on that slump side of the [indiscernible] curve. So the DSO model allows you to skip that. And it does require that you have great because the offset is you're not going to spend that capital and you're not going to spend that time permitting and all that, but you have to transport your ore. So the ore has got to be good enough grade to be able to pay for the truck [indiscernible] or the [indiscernible]. And to me, the most important part of it, the capital is a big part of it. You have a much smaller environmental footprint. So what you're permitting is -- can be done in a reasonable amount of time. And we've demonstrated that with Mancha. We got that permitted in -- start to finish 18 months. And I challenge any other mining project to say that hand over heart. Honestly, I got my project permitted in 18 months. We're doing that with Manh Choh. We're about ready to get our state permits, and we'll be able to go underground get the road done this year, and we'll be able to go underground and start drilling once we get that work done next year. So it's a different approach. It does require discipline in going after high grades that are close to existing infrastructure, so there's not a bunch of other infrastructure to permit. And we do find that trying to do all these things developing the mine on private land is by far easier than trying to do it on public plans, specifically federal lands. And until there's a federal [indiscernible] at permitting reform, which has to include a court reform aspect to it. Until that happens, and they're moving on that. So I'm optimistic. The SPEED Act is as Congress and [indiscernible] were working on near version. So when that happens, we can -- we'll relook at federal lands. But until then, we like working on statements and private plans. But that's the -- that's really the essence. You're kind of -- it affords you to be able to skip a few important steps from a capital side and from a permitting time line side.

That's great. No, I appreciate it. So I guess I know there's a lot of people who I'm unfamiliar with it. So I think it's helpful. But I do want to scroll down the map from Alaska to the Golden Triangle for a second, Shawn I'll try you for this one. I know the region seeing $5 billion in M&A over the past couple of years with [indiscernible] all in the area. And I know that even this pullback was $67 to $70 silver, the economics on high-grade silver deposits look way different than 2 years ago. How do you seek itself Valley fitting into that district? And then there's a question I'll throw to both of you, is the combined company now an acquisition target itself, but Shawn, I'll start with you.

Okay. the way I see our part of the Golden Triangle, where we've established a land position that does rival Newmont in terms of size and in terms of the density of the past producing mines that are under there. [indiscernible] Okay. No, I just looked like this screen froze for a second. But really, we're in the subbasin of the golden triangle. And it's an area that despite being so having some of the best infrastructure in the Golden Triangle, it seem the least amount of exploration. So it's really the future of the Golden Triangle as I see it. And what's interesting about it is -- in the center of the golden triangle, it's a gold-centric region, whereas the North is more copper gold -- and in the south, you've got the silver and the gold. So look, we're in an environment right now where I'll just talk about silver and silver producers. If you assume a $50 silver price, and the average all-in sustaining cost of about $25. For every for every 1 million-ounce you mine, that's $25 million of free cash flow. So as we look at the Kids all Valley, and we look at 5 million, 6 million ounces of silver production, it's going to be a very, very profitable mine moving forward.

Awesome. Appreciate that. And Rick, I'll turn it to you for if you think the combined company has become itself an acquisition target in the region.

Yes. I mean, look, you can never get too wound up about that. But look, we're building a company that's going to generate a lot of free cash flow. So I'd say, yes, that's probably a target for a bunch of people. But we're going to focus on executing our plan. And our plan is to grow from our current 60,000 ounces of average annual production to 200,000 ounces of gold and somewhere between 5 million and 10 million ounces of silver. And -- that's -- there's a lot of work to do, but we have the money, we have the team, and I think we have the support of the government, which is really important as we -- this is the first time I can remember in a long time that we actually had support of governments and the recognition that metals are important. They're critical now. And silver is one of the top ones on that list in terms of the big metals. So you have all the specialty metals that get all the airtime, the rare earths and what have you. They are more niche markets. But silver silver and even gold itself, I mean, with all this investment going into AI and data centers and battery storage and all those, those take a lot of gold and silver as well. And specifically, silver. The solid-state battery is another -- estimated to be another 100 million ounces of new demand on silver. So that said, we're just in a great spot, I think. I'm really excited about where we are. Yes, the pullback is the pain. It's painful to watch. But we're in for the long term here.

Awesome. And my final run of individual project questions, and I'll zoom out a little bit. And then I promise I will get time to get to some of the questions we're sending over e-mail in advance. I do want to talk about Lucky Shot. I know it's already fully printed for mining. Rick, what gives you the confidence of the scale at Lucky Shot? And what's the realistic time line from drilling into production?

Yes. So I'll answer those in reverse. So our plan is to get the drilling done over the course of the remainder of this year. It will probably move in the early part of next year. But I think by Q1, we should be mostly wrapped up with the drilling. And then objective outlined about 400,000 to 500,000 ounces of resource and then convert have a subset of that, that we get converted to reserve status. And we're shooting for 0.25 million ounces that can produce 50,000 ounces a year. The fact that this district, and it is a whole district, I mean we focus on just the sort of the lucky shot and Coleman's part of the vein structure there. But there's 50 other prospects that all have some working on them. So there's a lot of gold in the district to produce a lot of place gold or luteal gold, which I just do is when a giant [indiscernible]. And we're -- the fact that we found a new vein -- we announced, I think, a little over a month ago, KM Vein in a completely different orientation from the Lucky Shot being structure in fat at right angles to the Lucky Shot vein structure. This is the first time that it's been -- it was a new discovery. The folks who mined here back in the late 20s to the 40s, they didn't see any veins like that ever described any veins like that. and it's twice the grade of the lucky shot vein. So we're very excited. That's -- everybody loves discovery. And we've got to hit the tunnel underneath it now, and we're planning to get the miners back in mid-May extend the West drift, so we can get underneath the vein because we set the West drip up to drill the Lucky Shot vein, which is at right angles to the KM vein. So -- but we're going to out smart this mother nature here and just go underneath it and get some more drilling done. And then we'll change our plans in terms of where we focus. I mean if we're drilling 30 grams per tonne rather than 10 to 15 over a lucky shot. And guess what, we're going to we're going to adjust the plan it's literally right there. You can see the vein. You can take you underground and you can put your hand on it. And we're just -- that's exciting. And this -- so I'm excited about the what the implications of what this [indiscernible] orientation means, the fact that it is high grade and the fact that we have a whole district to explore. So -- as we've -- I think both Shawn and I have just emphasized the same thing that we don't have 5 deposits -- sorry, 4 deposits, we have 5 districts. We're focused on the long term here again. Just keep remembering what the Contango means. It's the future price, and that's what we're focused on is developing projects for the future and adding shareholder value in the future.

Awesome. Zooming out now done with all the individual project questions. Zooming out even after this pullback, combined company as a pro forma market cap approaching CAD 1 billion going to be dual listed on the NYSE American talking to TSX. You're already in the GDXJ, the SLA and the Russell. Shawn, I'll throw this to you. How important is that institutional visibility right now? And with precious metals pulling back, is this an entry point for funds? How are institutions thinking about this period?

It's a good question. I think it's everything in the world we live in today, where more money is passively managed and actively managed. I think it's very, very crucial to get into the indexes and ETFs. Most investors can finally now buy us, right? We've gotten large enough. We've got it liquid enough. We're going to be on the prime North American exchanges [indiscernible], NYC American. So that is everything. Liquidity is the oxygen of capital markets. And what we've seen the time we propose the merger to completion of merger is our liquidity profile has increased significantly. So it's very, very important. Look, I've always been taught that you make your money on the buy, not to sell. And I think that what you need to focus on right now during this correction. As gold is below the 50-day moving average, right, as we continue to go through this correction, this is a buying opportunity. right? This company is trading at half the value it was just 2 months ago. And again, I just think the discrepancy between the price of the metals and the price of the mining equities has never been further apart. And I think the big opportunity for the investor here, and if you study history, this happens every cycle. First, you have the gold price move, right? And then you have the large producers move and then that trickle down comes down. And I think what I'm most excited about 2026 is going out and being able to share a company that's now cash flowing. But I think for what we are now representing what the Contango shareholder has been now exposed to is a longer profile, a longer mine life, right? That 5-year business is now a 20-year business. And for Dolly Varden, the uncertainty around, well, now what? When are you going to start producing where [indiscernible], and we have the cash flow to get the silver off the hill. So I think for me, it's having 2 sides to the story, production and growth. It's very powerful.

Great. Rick, I know you talked to the market near the beginning of this, but I do want to lean on your decades of experience in markets just for a second and in [indiscernible] crystal ball gazing about the gold price. I'm just curious your perspective, this most recent correction. Is it a healthy 1 in an ongoing bull market? Is it just related to the war should investors be concerned? And then as a side question to that, how does a company like Contango silver and gold differ than a pure explorer in a volatile metals market, like if it's going to be jumping up and down, how does a company like Contango fair comparatively?

Yes. Look, I mean, if the average the correction in silver and gold, it's a 30% correction that would be described as a very healthy correction. I mean gold and silver both moved very fast as we talked about, Silver always is more volatile and as more drama. But but they both moved it's a healthy correction, nothing fundamental has changed in the gold space and in the silver space in terms of the appetite for investors in the metals and you're still seeing the central banks buying, you're still seeing a deficit of silver from what's needed to build all the things that silver is actually used for because over is that both in industrial and a precious metal. And so nothing fundamental has changed there. So I think -- again, if you got to take a longer-term view. I think if you're investing in in exploration and in mining, you're investing for the future because that's where the return comes. And that's where -- if you take the dollars you're spending on exploration and if they're wisely invested and you get additional production and additional cash flow, that's the business model where you build wealth. And so the fact that we have the cash flow and we have the goods. We have the gold and the silver, and we're in a safe jurisdiction where -- you're not going to wake up tomorrow and your asset is going to be nationalized or this or there's going to be bonds dropping on your head. This is -- we're in North America, Alaska, BC, got support of governments. So all these things, I think, are very much lined up for our success. We've got the team. We've got the dollars to do it. For the junior Explorer, it's a tougher sell. You are at the whim of the market. And if you're -- if the timing has worked out that you need to raise money now to get a good drill program going this summer. Well, you've just diluted the crop by to your shareholders. Yes, I don't like seeing the share price down in the $17, $18 level. but I don't have to raise money now and we're not. So we're pleased with where we are, and I think we're just going to keep focused on the future and adding value for shareholders.

Awesome. That is all my questions. Everybody has written a question. Thank you for indulging me. I'm getting into your now I promise. I'm going to go through some of the ones that came in over e-mail first, and then I'll get into some of the ones that are cut in the chat and where possible, I'll combine them. was 1 straight out of the gate asking about fuel prices because obviously, that's on, I think, most people's mind to some degree as oil prices do increase. The question basically is, when would you expect high fuel prices to start impacting Contango's revenue you have an estimate on what that impact will be. And as a side question, are electric trucks being considered as an option in DSO process?

Yes. Short answer is for Manh Choh, no, we've got the fleet that is going to complete the delivery of the ore to the [indiscernible] mill. So yes, we're not going to look at electric trucks, and it's a huge amount of capital, in fact is they don't exist right now. So it's an Elon Musk dream, and I'm sure someday, Elon will make them. But now for -- in terms of just solid diesel prices, there's -- we do tendency -- we have a tendency to buy fuel sort of a year ahead of time here in Alaska. And so because all of our fuel comes out of Seattle, and I talk about diesel fuel. So I don't expect us to have any significant increases right away. But I think over -- that the steel prices remain in this $100 sort of a barrel oil price environment. we will see that increase sort of running through, I'd say, the latter half of the year and obviously, if it continues into next year. But it's not immediate because we've already got our fuel already stored. Now -- and just I guess to frame it, the transportation portion of our all-in sustaining cost is roughly 1/3. And roughly 1/3 of that is related to fuel. The other 2/3 of the capitalization of the truck and the driver and the cost related to that. So it's not like -- it's not nascent or 1/10 of our overall costs. So just to kind of keep it in perspective, it's a significant contributor for sure and especially when you're transporting more and our whole DSO model relies on that. So is something that we'll monitor and we'll give guidance when we have new numbers.

Awesome. I appreciate it. Just because there's a lot of questions [indiscernible]. I'm just going to throw this out to you guys. Where can people buy you right now? Where will people be able to buy you in the future? And what -- why pursue TSX over maintaining TSXV NYSE? Let's just talk about tickers for a few minutes and where people can buy and what the strategy is for the future.

Shawn, you want to take that?

Yes. So you can buy us right now, CTO in the U.S., you'll be able to bias CTGO on the TSX. Now [indiscernible] there's more indexes, more institutions that are -- be able to buy a TSX [indiscernible] board stock than the venture stock. So it's been proven with case studies that that liquidity goes up, your investor exposure and reach has increased significantly. So it's very, very simple. You just have to remember 1 symbol, CTGO whether you're investing in the U.S. or Canada, on the big boards, CTGO.

Perfect. I appreciate that very much. Rick, one question I haven't heard in a very long time, but I'll throw it to you, it's about the bridge. Somebody wants now if the Alaska Department of Transportation, repaired bridges that [indiscernible] restrictions impacting Manh Choh's operations.

Yes. So the answer is, yes, there's been -- it was a lot of drama last year about that. It turned into a bit of a much to do nothing story in that the reason this Halt came about was the federal government didn't approve the state transportation plan, which meant that the state then had to sort of delay their planned maintenance of the bridges. When the Trump administration came into -- was elected, that was one of the first things the Trump administration did is just here's the dollars. This was a political political attack on our governor, but -- so glad to have all that drama behind this. But short answer is the trucks are running as per schedule, 24/7, Page 65, and that was a painful political experience in my view.

Absolutely. And I will give congratulations to everybody who bought Contango during Bridgegate, because he made it like an absolute [indiscernible] congratulations to that team. Somebody asked a question of [indiscernible] counter before, so I'm curious your perspective. [indiscernible] Alaska is a known earthquake region. You want to know as an investor, how should we judge the impact of seismic events on underground mines?

Yes, it's actually a good question. And the short answer is underground is actually 1 of the safer places to be. And if you're in a property maintain mine because we -- that's something you do on a daily basis as you look for hazards. And so short answer is you engineer for. And Alaska definitely is an active seismic on. I'd say actually both Western North America is an active seismic example. So yes, we engineer for it. And as odd as it might sound underground in a well maintain mine is a pretty good place to be.

I appreciate it. Just curious. I think that's great. One question somebody asked are there any noncore assets of the combined company that you intend to dispose of sell, et cetera?

Yes. So we -- I think that from the Dolly Varden side, the focus was on Kitsault and surrounding areas. And so I'd say no on the BC side. But in Alaska, we have a number of early-stage assets. And we have discussed and thought about spinning those out because they're not likely to fit the DSO model. So I'd say stay tuned for this space. We're doing some work on them this year. And I'd say we're going to make a decision probably sometime this year as to whether they remain a core part of their portfolio or whether we look to do something else with it, but there's any value there. They're good assets. They're all next to infrastructure. So there are certain aspects of that hit. But we've got a lot on our plate, so we might sort of high grade the portfolio a bit.

Yes. No, you guys keep busy for sure. That's something I've always known about Contango. [indiscernible] you because I'm glad I got both of you on the call for this question. Somebody wants to know can describe the management structure of the merged team, what's the relationship look like? Who's on it? How are decisions made some just want to know kind of how everything is going to go with the combined group?

It's a good question. One thing I would just want to add to the last point before we touch on is having that disciplined approach and having the appropriate amount of cash on treasury and cash flow to advance major assets. The other thing I want to say is there's an opportunity for Contango shareholders to get exposure. Like depending on how we look to unlock that value of those earlier-stage projects, we're now moving into a price environment that is supportive of exploration. So I think there's a way for us to monetize to the benefit of the existing Contango shareholder that portfolio. So I think that's something to look at in the future. In terms of management, look, the nice thing here, just like whether it's the shareholders, the cross-pollination of skill sets, like I'm a marketer, right? I'm a marketer. And so in terms of the structure, Rick is the CEO. And the way I look at all these companies, and this is something that a lot of investors -- a lot of management teams don't appreciate. The top of the pyramid is the shareholder that who really calls the shots and you've got the Board of Directors and you've got the CEO who reports to the Board and is working for the Board of Directors. And so myself, Rick and Mike Clark, we are -- we will huddle up and we will make decisions as a group. But Rick is our CEO, but governed by the Board and working for the shareholders. And then -- and it's really -- when we had our all hands on deck meeting, Rick made an incredible point, which is the real value drivers of the company is the people you don't see on this call people that's the sites in the offices. That's where the magic happens. And we've got -- we've got a lean team, but we've got an incredible organization that is supporting us -- and they really are the ones that are driving the value and creating the real magic.

I just want to add just on the Board. Well, I'd say I use that term high graded again and not -- but we've got a really solid Board that is very mining focused. As you know, contango came from an oil and gas background. And again, great -- it's been great. It's very supportive Board members and that know a lot about resource development. But I think we've now kind of focused the Board on a Board that knows mining and understands what a mining company is and how do we grow it? So I'm really pleased with the Board. We're actually meeting next week and with the entire team more included. So yes, we're excited and to get the whole team together and move forward on executing the plan here.

Great. Shawn, I got a marketing question for you from the chats. Somebody says, knows that before you've used the word per silver play to the [indiscernible] Dolly Varden, and he's happy with the merger. He just wants to know what the base message you're going to be using to promote contango is now.

Yes. No, it's a great question. For me, from my perspective, I look at the great precious metals companies that have stood the test of time, and they're really producing multiple metals, they're polymetallic, right? And I think what we offer the silver investor is we offer them a lot of high-grade primary safe jurisdiction silver which is extremely rare. It's what made the Kitsault Valley project a true unicorn project. Having primary silver is rare, having it in a safe jurisdiction is even rarer. But if you look at some of our peers, and you take Hecla, you take [indiscernible], First Majestic. They're producing other metals, they're producing a lot of gold. So in terms of marketing, I think the key here is grade, jurisdiction and silver and gold.

Perfect. I appreciate that. A couple of quick questions. [indiscernible] asked about [indiscernible] minutes ago. What's ASIC right now for gold? I miss give them an to confirmed number. But then what's anticipated ASIC for silver [indiscernible] Kitsault?

Yes. Probably too early to put any numbers in Kitsault. So let's get the MRE out, and then we'll execute plan the deal with 40,000 meters of drawing. And by the end of '26 and early '27, we're really focused on getting a preliminary economic assessment or initial assessment done. That will give guidance on the plan to turn Shawn says middling the mountain into middle that we can market and sell. So -- and then on Manh Choh, this year's guidance, we're guiding 40,000 to 45,000 ounces of gold production. I think we'll be at the higher end. And our costs are in the $19,000 to $2,000 -- all-in sustaining cost in the $19,000 to $2,000 range. And in terms of next year, guidance is 75,000 to 80,000 ounces of gold and $1,300 to $1,400 cost, all-in sustaining costs. So Again, the reason for the lower production and higher cost this year is the equipment, the mining equipment is focused on the transition from North pit, the South pit, lots of pre-stripping going on at South pit. So we have a relatively low cost or low production high cost. We get the benefit of that in 2028 -- sorry, 2027 and 2028, where we'll have much higher production and much lower cost.

Awesome. I appreciate that very much. Now I know somebody asked sitting from the chat, said, Shawn, I appreciate your comments on rebalancing, but I'm going to throw this question to both of you, but I'll start with you, Shawn. What do you think is the catalyst from here that drives the rebalancing for contango? I just love to hear what you're thinking.

Well again, I talk about some of the case studies of other mergers in the past, right? And I think -- for some investors, we've had some turnover, right? There were some investors on the Dolly side that were here for a silver silver speculation for contango shareholders. I think for some of them, getting another development stage project there for the production as we turned over those shareholders throughout this time from proposed merger to complete a merger. Now we're going to go out and build a new shareholder base and a shareholder base that wants to get exposure to high grade, safe jurisdictions, silver and gold. And so for me, in addition to things like new discovery at Lucky shot in the KM vein, good operational numbers, the exploration drilling in the Kitsault Valley. There's just an opportunity here. The market needs this name. There's a vacuum in the mid-tier space. There's -- and that void has been built up because we went through a 15-year depression in the mining space. And now that we're -- Rick and I were gathering assets during a depression. I look back at the High Gold acquisition and the cost of bringing Johnson Track into the company, it was an incredible accretive transaction. And I think this transaction is going to age in the same manner. As we look out into the future, so the real opportunity here is just to educate the precious metals public that we've got a new name. This is like putting yourself in a time machine and investing in Hecla 5 years ago, right? We've got a 5-year plan that's going to deliver 20,000 ounces of gold production, and then we'll be turning that corner and looking at 6 million, 7 million, 8 million ounces of silver production to complement and it's an absolute rocket ship. So really, the key here is going out and sharing that as we explore, as we develop and we continue to produce.

I'll just add that we're going to -- we have a marketing meeting on Friday. It's a busy schedule. We're going to be road rollers on [indiscernible] plane. So it's -- we want to do a lot of market we want to get the story out.

That's great. I hope you get used to the ice cold [indiscernible] that they serve on planes [indiscernible] it's fun for time. But gentlemen, I know we're coming to the end of the hour. I'd love to give you just each 1 last minute to close off each on you're most excited about for this year? I know we've gone over the million things that are keeping everybody on their toes. But Shawn, I'll start with you and Rick closes off. Just what are you most jazz? What's keeping you up with excitement for 2026 [indiscernible]

Well, again, for me, it's -- I've been out there pounding the payment for the last 6 years and bringing in a lot of incredible shareholders to what was a primary silver name. And what I now get to do is introduce that network that I've been building for the last 2 decades into some very, very unique special assets in Alaska and a combined company that really is a platform, when I look out -- this is a company that could be around for the next century in terms of these districts, this potential, we're just scratching the surface. So there's -- if I were to sum it up, it's exploration, it's development, it's production. And again, it's the uniqueness of having all of that in Northwest British Columbia and Alaska. So again, we've got a very, very busy calendar. I'm just grateful that I'm not doing it alone, that I've got a team that I'm working with because we've got different team members in different cities at the same time, and it's going to be busy, it's going to be fun. And we're finally in a market that's starting to pay us for this, right? These projects are now incredibly profitable, more profitable than I ever dreamed of it. And I'm just glad that Rick and I were out there actively acquiring the portfolio advancing and exploring, developing and now we've hit, I think, at the right time in the cycle. So let's pay off time. And Rick, I'll leave it to you for a final word.

Yes. I mean I'm an exploration geologist by background. That's my passion. That's what I love to do. So when we've got north of 50,000 meters of drilling going on this summer, it's going to be held a lot of fun -- exploration fun. Finding new high-grade veins at Lucky Shot, that's fun. There's just -- it's the passion of exploration. And I've always loved the saying that without a, there's no science and without science, there's no art. And that's exactly what our business is, and that art is part of that passion. It's just how do I build this? How do I create this? And creating that future for the company is, I think, as Shawn just outlined, we're incredibly fortunate. We're going really blessed with governments that support mining, finally, and with the team and the capital and the goods, the 4 districts to explore, I couldn't be more pleased with where we are as a company.

Awesome. Appreciate it. And [indiscernible] and the chat just increases holdings during the event. So thank you, Marcel. And with that note, but Rick and Shawn, thank you so much for letting me grill you and getting through all these questions. Everybody in the room, I know there's 5 or 6 questions I didn't get to. I'm going to make sure the teams get them. they can get back to you as soon as possible. But thank you, everybody, so much there's so many of you in the room today. Thanks for taking time to spend with us. And Rick and Shawn, thank you guys for letting us [indiscernible] you.

It was a pleasure.

Have a great day, everyone. Cheers.