The Creation of "Baby Hecla." Contango Ore and Dolly Varden Merge to Make it Happen.

Pay attention to numerous 2026 share price drivers including massive 2025 drill results.

Rick van Nieuwenhuyse, President, CEO & Board Member, Contango Ore

On January 13, I interviewed Shawn Khunkhun, the CEO of Dolly Varden Silver to get his perspective on the proposed merger of his company with Contango Ore. On January 14, I listened to Rick van Nieuwenhuyse, President & CEO Contango Ore, to hear why he thought it benefited both companies to join together. What brought them together was to find milling facilities that could accept the direct shipment of ore in order to reduce capital and time to begin production and cash flow for shareholders.

The merged company to be named Contango Silver & Gold will have ~US$100 million in cash and Contango's current producing gold mine Man Cho, in Alaska throwing off ~$100 million per year from Contango. A second mine that Contango is moving toward production is expected to also generate ~US$100 million per year.

Rick sees the extremely high grade gold resources held by Contango combined with the very high grade silver resources held by Dolly Varden, line up the new company to become a "baby Hecla" with prospects of jumping from the ranks of a mid-sized producer to something akin to a mature Hecla with a market cap of around $15 billion vs. the Contango/Dolly Varden's market cap of ~$900 million.

There are a number of share price drivers that could ignite the shares of both companies higher even before the expected merger in March. Both companies have a large number of drill results to be announced within weeks. Both companies already have strong coverage from different analysts. The combined merger will bring new buying for silver- and gold-orientated institutional buyers and with $4,600 gold and $90 silver, when analysts sharpen their pencils, the future for the new Contango Silver and Gold should look very bright indeed.

I hope you will take the time to hear how CEO Rick van Nieuwenhuyse plans to grow "baby Hecla" into a senior citizen to be revered among precious metals miners.

Best wishes,

Jay Taylor