Contango ORE, Inc. Announces Updated Estimate of Mineralized Material

Contango ORE, Inc. ("CORE" or the "Company") (OTCQB:CTGO) is pleased to announce updated estimates of mineralized material¹ for the Main and North Peak areas which are operated by the Peak Gold, LLC joint venture ("Peak Gold") in Eastern Alaska. The measured and indicated resources² were calculated with resource cones at a gold price of $1,200 per ounce with a cut-off grade of 0.5 grams per tonne and at $1,400 gold with a cut-off grade of 0.43 grams per tonne.

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Measured and Indicated within $1200/oz Gold Pit Shell at a 0.50 g/t AuEq Cut-off Grade
						Grade > Cut-off			Contained Metal
			Tonnage			Au			Ag			Cu			Au			Ag			Cu
Class			(kt)			(g/t)			(g/t)			(%)			(k oz)			(k oz)			(M lbs)
Measured			484			6.25			16.73			0.15			97.3			260.4			1.6
Indicated			10,117			3.51			14.06			0.16			1,142.6			4,573.3			35.7
M&I			10,601			3.64			14.18			0.16			1,239.9			4,833.7			37.3
Equivalent Gold (g/t) = Au (g/t) + 0.0122 x Ag (g/t)
Measured and Indicated within $1400/oz Gold Pit Shell at a 0.43 g/t AuEq Cut-off Grade
						Grade > Cut-off			Contained Metal
			Tonnage			Au			Ag			Cu			Au			Ag			Cu
Class			(kt)			(g/t)			(g/t)			(%)			(k oz)			(k oz)			(M lbs)
Measured			486			6.22			16.65			0.15			97.2			260.2			1.6
Indicated			10,808			3.34			13.97			0.16			1,159.5			4,854.5			38.0
M&I			11,294			3.46			14.09			0.16			1,256.7			5,114.7			39.6

Aggregate mineralized material, of which measured and indicated resources as shown above are a subset³, at various cutoff grades are show below.

						Grade > Cut-off			Contained Metal
Cut-off			Tonnage			Au			Ag			Cu			Au			Ag			Cu
(g/t AuEq)			(kt)			(g/t)			(g/t)			(%)			(k oz)			(k oz)			(M lbs)
0.30			18,142			2.62			13.64			0.15			1,526			7,957			61
0.40			16,730			2.81			14.23			0.16			1,514			7,656			58
0.50			15,650			2.98			14.68			0.16			1,502			7,387			55
0.60			14,702			3.15			15.10			0.16			1,488			7,139			52
0.70			13,883			3.30			15.38			0.16			1,474			6,864			49
0.80			13,110			3.46			15.66			0.16			1,458			6,602			47
0.90			12,378			3.62			15.94			0.16			1,442			6,343			45
1.00			11,663			3.80			16.14			0.16			1,423			6,053			42
Equivalent Gold (g/t) = Au (g/t) + 0.0122 x Ag (g/t)

Brad Juneau, the Company's President and CEO, commented, "The results obtained by Peak Gold through drilling this past year have been outstanding. When compared to our previous estimates released in 2013, using the same geologic assumptions, this new estimate represents an increase of approximately 59% of mineralized material. As shown on the tables above, we now have substantial quantities of measured and indicated resources relative to inferred resources, the result of substantially more drilling over the past year defining the known deposits already discovered at Main and North Peak.

Having discovered and now defined a substantial body of ore, our drilling plans for the summer of 2017, which commenced in mid- May, are targeted towards more exploratory prospects in the general area of the Main and North Peak deposits. The attached map shows some of these targets, which are based on a variety of geologic/geophysical parameters employed by the technical team at Peak Gold. We also plan to do surface recon work on the recently acquired Noah claims as well as Tetlin Hills areas not previously sampled in detail in an effort to determine if drilling on these areas is warranted."

ABOUT PEAK GOLD

Peak Gold is a joint venture between CORE and Royal Alaska, LLC ("Royal Alaska"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Gold, Inc. Peak Gold holds a 675,000 acre lease with the Native Village of Tetlin and an additional 168,200 acres of State of Alaska mining claims, all located near Tok, Alaska, on which Peak Gold explores for minerals. Royal Alaska has the right to earn up to a 40% membership interest in Peak Gold by making total contributions of up to $30 million to Peak Gold by October 21, 2018. As of March 31, 2017, Royal Alaska had contributed approximately $20 million to Peak Gold and held a 24.9% membership interest in the joint venture, with CORE owning the remaining 75.1%. Once Royal Alaska has earned a 40% interest in the joint venture, CORE can be required to sell up to 20% of its net interest in Peak Gold should Royal Alaska sell its entire 40% interest to a bona fide third party purchaser.

ABOUT CORE

CORE is a Houston-based company that engages in the exploration in Alaska for gold and associated minerals through Peak Gold, LLC, its joint venture company with Royal Alaska, LLC. Additional information can be found on our web page at www.contangoore.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding CORE that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor "forward-looking statements" provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, based on CORE's current expectations and includes statements regarding future results of operations, quality and nature of the asset base, the assumptions upon which estimates are based and other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, strategies or statements about future events or performance (often, but not always, using words such as "expects", "projects", "anticipates", "plans", "estimates", "potential", "possible", "probable", or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "will", "should", or "could" be taken, occur or be achieved). Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those, reflected in the statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: the risks of the exploration and the mining industry (for example, operational risks in exploring for, developing mineral reserves; risks and uncertainties involving geology; the speculative nature of the mining industry; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to future production, costs and expenses; the volatility of natural resources prices, including prices of gold and associated minerals; the existence and extent of commercially exploitable minerals in properties acquired by Peak Gold; potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the interpretation of exploration results and the estimation of mineral resources; the loss of key employees or consultants; health, safety and environmental risks and risks related to weather and other natural disasters); uncertainties as to the availability and cost of financing; inability to realize expected value from acquisitions; inability of our management team to execute its plans to meet its goals; and the possibility that government policies may change or governmental approvals may be delayed or withheld, including the inability to obtain any mining permits. Additional information on these and other factors which could affect Peak Gold's exploration program or financial results are included in CORE's other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from the projections in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made. CORE does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

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¹ _{The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize this term. Mineralized material is that part of a mineral system that has potential economic significance but cannot be included in the proven and probable ore reserve estimates until further drilling and metallurgical work is completed, and until other economic and technical feasibility factors based upon such work have been resolved. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in this category will ever be converted into reserves or that the ore can be legally and economically extracted or produced.}

² _{The terms measured and indicated resource are not SEC recognized terms. Peak Gold has determined that such resources would be substantively the same as those prepared using the Guidelines established by the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration and defined as Mineral Resource. Estimates of resources are subject to further exploration and development, are subject to additional risks, and no assurance can be given that they will eventually convert to future reserves.}

³ _{The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources included in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Resources as an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource category.}

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