Contango ORE, Inc. Strengthens Its Management Team with the Addition of Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse as President and CEO

Contango ORE, Inc. (“CORE” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: CTGO) announced today the addition of Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse as President and CEO to its executive management team. Brad Juneau will continue to be active in the company as Executive Chairman, working with Rick to grow the company and add value for shareholders into the future. Rick has had an extensive and successful career in the mining industry and has been directly involved in the discovery and subsequent advancement of two of Alaska’s largest gold and copper discoveries over the past 20 years – the 40 million ounce Donlin Gold project and the Arctic and Bornite polymetallic deposits. In 1998, he formed NovaGold and acquired the Donlin Gold project and subsequently led the team that made the gold discovery there. In 2011, NovaGold spun out its Upper Kobuk Minerals Projects located in the Ambler Mining District to shareholders as Trilogy Metals. Over the past eight years, Trilogy Metals has discovered over eight billion pounds of copper, three billion pounds of zinc and over one million ounces of gold equivalent. Under Rick’s leadership, both NovaGold and Trilogy are known for having formed strong partnerships with Alaska Native Corporations. Also, both projects are the result of successful partnerships with major mining companies that were brought in as development partners. The Donlin and Ambler projects are currently in the advanced stages of permitting and feasibility.

Brad Juneau, the Company’s Chairman, commented, “I have known Rick for several years, and followed his success with admiration. We are extremely pleased that he has agreed to join our company as President and CEO and are confident that his proven leadership will enable him to provide Contango with a level of expertise we simply have not previously enjoyed. His experience in leading early stage projects from the exploration stage through permitting and construction will be invaluable as we move our Peak Gold project forward. We feel that working with Rick will enable us to grow the Company at a pace that would not be possible without his experience, expertise, and guidance. Rick will work out of Fairbanks which is located close enough to our project to allow frequent field visits and provide real time information from the exploration process.”