North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Contango ORE Inc. Nov. 16 posted results from 19 of 32 holes drilled during the second phase of 2015 exploration at the Tetlin project near Tok, Alaska.

This exploration was carried out by Peak Gold, a limited liability joint venture company formed to further the exploration and development of the Tetlin project.

Royal Gold Inc. has the option to earn up to a 40 percent interest economic interest in Peak Gold by investing up to US$30 million prior to October 2018.

"We are very pleased with the operations team at Peak Gold, managed by our joint venture partner Royal Alaska LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Gold Inc.," said Contango ORE CEO Brad Juneau.

"This new phase II drilling, in conjunction with our 2015 phase I drilling program, has confirmed the presence of a gold mineralization in previously untested zones up to 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) away from the Peak deposit." The 6,897 meters of drilling completed during the phase 2 program focused on two target areas - Peak West and North Peak-Blue Moon.

Highlights from drilling at North Peak include: 1.92 meters of 70.9 grams per metric ton gold, 39 g/t silver and 0.015 percent copper in hole TET15165; 16.8 meters of 17.94 g/t gold, 4.2 g/t silver and 0.027 percent copper in hole TET15171; and 23.04 meters of 19.86 g/t gold, 4.2 g/t silver and 0.056 percent copper.

Highlights from Peak West include: 5.54 meters of 22.08 g/t gold, 7.6 g/t silver and 0.11 percent copper, 6.25 meters of 6.45 g/t gold, 3.3 g/t silver and 0.126 percent copper, and 11.28 meters of 3.43 g/t gold, 2.8 g/t silver and 0.177 percent copper in hole TET15174; and 68.47 meters of 5.46 g/t gold, 0.4 g/t silver and 0.059 percent copper in TET15176.

"Both of these new areas will require more drilling and analysis to define potential resource size," said Juneau.

In total, 14,059 meters of drilling was completed in 61 holes during the second phase of 2015 exploration at Tetlin.

"The total amount spent during the 2015 exploration effort in phases 1 and 2 is approximately US$7 million, which is under budget as a result of more efficient operations combined with more drilling from common surface pads," the Contango ORE CEO added.

"Peak Gold is working to develop an exploration model to help determine new targets for future drilling, and the relationship between the separate zones of mineralization discovered to date.

The joint venture will combine new drilling and assay results with information gained from surface samples and proprietary ground and airborne magnetics and conductivity data to develop these future targets."

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Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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