Tetlin winter drilling underway

Contango Ore Inc. Feb. 2 said the first phase of 2017 drilling at the Tetlin gold project in Interior Alaska was underway.

Peak Gold LLC, a joint venture between Contango Ore and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Gold Inc., invested roughly US$10.6 million on exploration at Tetlin in 2016, which included the first winter drill program at this project located just south of the Alaska Highway near Tok.

Royal Gold, which is the operator of the JV, can earn up to a 40 percent interest in Tetlin by investing US$30 million in Contango Ore's 735,000-acre underexplored project by October 2018.

Over the two years since joining the Tetlin project, Royal Gold has invested roughly US$17 million towards this earn-in amount, earning the Denver-based royalty company a 20.6 percent interest in the joint venture.

The initial phase of 2017 exploration at Tetlin is expected to include 6,000 meters of drilling that primarily targets North Peak, an exciting new deposit the partners outlined at Tetlin in 2016.

An updated resource for Tetlin that includes additional drilling at the Main Peak deposit and a maiden resource for North Peak are expected to be completed by March.

-SHANE LASLEY