Contango ORE, Inc. Announces Final Results for the 2016 Drilling Program

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Contango ORE, Inc. ("CORE" or the "Company") CTGO is pleased to provide the final drilling results obtained during the Phase III 2016 drilling program being conducted by Peak Gold, LLC, a joint venture between the Company and Royal Alaska, LLC ("Royal"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Gold, Inc., managed by Royal, on the joint venture's gold exploration project in Tetlin, Alaska.

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The data below includes 11 new drill holes and new intervals for previously released drill holes as shown on the accompanying base map. Sample intervals are calculated using 0.5 grams per tonne (gpt) lower cut off for gold with no internal waste less than cutoff grade that is greater than 3 meters in thickness. Intercepts shown are drill intercept lengths. True width of mineralization is unknown:

Zone				Drill Hole			From (meters)			To (meters)			Interval (meters)			Au_gpt			Au_gpt x Interval
North Peak				TET16277			7.45			9.75			2.30			1.66			3.82
North Peak				TET16277			16.90			18.14			1.24			1.84			2.28
North Peak				TET16277			41.15			42.95			1.80			1.49			2.68
North Peak				TET16277			65.02			67.13			2.11			1.02			2.15
North Peak				TET16277			83.27			95.79			12.52			2.56			32.05
North Peak				TET16277			121.47			123.70			2.23			1.91			4.26
North Peak				TET16277			129.97			134.00			4.03			1.45			5.84
North Peak				TET16278			31.81			45.86			14.05			10.58			148.65
North Peak				TET16278			55.81			59.03			3.22			1.56			5.02
North Peak				TET16278			73.02			83.97			10.95			3.08			33.73
North Peak				TET16278			119.33			120.33			1.00			1.90			1.90
North Peak				TET16278			104.62			105.77			1.15			1.46			1.67	*
North Peak				TET16278			142.97			148.53			5.56			2.78			15.46	*
North Peak				TET16278			156.32			157.87			1.55			2.14			3.32	*
North Peak				TET16279			129.88			134.47			4.59			1.75			8.03	*
North Peak				TET16279			160.22			163.75			3.53			1.52			5.37	*
North Peak				TET16279			169.94			173.50			3.56			5.06			18.01
North Peak				TET16279			176.61			178.79			2.18			5.40			11.77
North Peak				TET16280			141.16			143.23			2.07			1.07			2.21
North Peak				TET16280			165.74			167.70			1.96			1.15			2.25	*
North Peak				TET16280			198.15			200.08			1.93			1.96			3.78	*
North Peak				TET16280			205.20			205.70			0.50			5.95			2.98	*
North Peak				TET16280			210.98			212.89			1.91			0.91			1.74	*
North Peak				TET16281			14.33			22.86			8.53			22.01			187.75
North Peak				TET16285			7.32			21.63			14.31			11.59			165.85	*
North Peak				TET16286			37.80			56.58			18.78			5.02			94.28	*
North Peak				TET16287			75.60			81.72			6.12			7.35			44.98	*
North Peak				TET16288			96.32			105.77			9.45			1.11			10.49
North Peak				TET16289			10.52			36.00			25.48			18.73			477.24	*
North Peak				TET16289			39.12			55.70			16.58			13.52			224.16	*
North Peak				TET16291			0.60			4.63			4.03			6.39			25.75
North Peak				TET16291			11.28			33.21			21.93			4.69			102.85	*
North Peak				TET16291			42.30			44.98			2.68			2.05			5.49	*
North Peak				TET16291			50.90			53.27			2.37			5.48			12.99	*
North Peak				TET16292			5.79			21.18			15.39			1.58			24.32
North Peak				TET16292			24.63			28.80			4.17			0.83			3.46
North Peak				TET16293			7.11			11.89			4.78			1.26			6.02	*
North Peak				TET16294			9.10			16.71			7.61			6.88			52.36	*
North Peak				TET16295			5.66			20.65			14.99			11.67			174.93	*
North Peak				TET16296			6.13			9.80			3.67			1.78			6.53
North Peak				TET16296			24.13			26.28			2.15			0.87			1.87	*
North Peak				TET16297			6.91			30.09			23.18			3.72			86.23	*
North Peak				TET16297			39.91			41.44			1.53			11.50			17.60	*
North Peak				TET16298			6.75			14.30			7.55			4.37			32.99	*
North Peak				TET16298			24.82			31.57			6.75			15.53			104.83	*
North Peak				TET16298			34.90			37.94			3.04			1.40			4.26	*
North Peak				TET16298			44.18			59.02			14.84			3.08			45.71	*
North Peak				TET16299			24.77			39.32			14.55			5.46			79.44	*
North Peak				TET16299			47.85			50.90			3.05			9.83			29.98	*
North Peak				TET16299			53.95			54.71			0.76			9.49			7.21	*
North Peak				TET16299			59.74			65.46			5.72			2.14			12.24	*
North Peak				TET16299			81.38			84.43			3.05			7.82			23.85
North Peak				TET16300			0.00			1.52			1.52			1.08			1.64	*
North Peak				TET16300			16.63			21.41			4.78			0.90			4.30
North Peak				TET16300			24.73			39.78			15.05			5.15			77.51
North Peak				TET16300			44.81			47.70			2.89			2.90			8.38
North Peak				TET16300			51.00			67.00			16.00			3.43			54.88
North Peak				TET16300			70.10			71.78			1.68			2.19			3.68
North Peak				TET16301			147.29			151.66			4.37			1.37			5.99	*
North Peak				TET16302			7.14			9.14			2.00			10.98			21.96
North Peak				TET16302			14.31			37.05			22.74			26.61			605.11
North Peak				TET16302			44.36			48.44			4.08			7.78			31.74
North Peak				TET16302			52.54			57.60			5.06			1.05			5.31
North Peak				TET16303			59.45			60.96			1.51			1.64			2.48
North Peak				TET16303			91.95			97.70			5.75			1.03			5.92
North Peak				TET16304			16.31			37.51			21.20			11.86			251.43
North Peak				TET16304			46.97			69.52			22.55			5.49			123.80
North Peak				TET16304			75.52			77.70			2.18			2.78			6.06
North Peak				TET16304			80.93			82.79			1.86			5.88			10.94
North Peak				TET16304			87.01			87.30			0.29			28.80			8.35
North Peak				TET16305			11.13			13.41			2.28			4.43			10.10
North Peak				TET16305			17.70			47.24			29.54			7.17			211.80
North Peak				TET16306			58.83			60.50			1.67			1.31			2.19
North Peak				TET16306			65.65			68.19			2.54			3.13			7.95
North Peak				TET16306			93.94			94.63			0.69			6.79			4.69
North Peak				TET16306			113.00			122.53			9.53			3.79			36.12
North Peak				TET16307			58.03			68.88			10.85			3.29			35.70
North Peak				TET16307			139.64			141.31			1.67			1.23			2.05
North Peak				TET16308			41.68			51.36			9.68			1.79			17.33
North Peak				TET16310			38.56			43.40			4.84			1.88			9.10
*Intervals previously released.

Brad Juneau, the Company's President commented, "We continue to be encouraged by the drilling results at North Peak, which indicate that the area of known mineralization is comparable to the strong results we have seen in our original discovery at Main Peak to the south. We anticipate that drilling operations will resume in early February to target open areas at North Peak, as well as exploratory targets in close proximity to both North Peak and Main Peak. This first phase of 2017 drilling is expected to total 6,000 meters of new core drilling. We expect to receive a new resource report near the end of the first calendar quarter of this year."

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 CORE; 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 CORE'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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