Contango ORE, Inc. announced that the first gold pour for the Manh Choh mine will take place at the Fort Knox mill facility on July 8, 2024. Since its discovery, the Manh Choh project has stood out as a very high-quality deposit with exceptional grade for an open pit gold mine. Upon forming the Peak Gold joint venture with Kinross in September 2020, a feasibility study was completed that demonstrated the viability of the Manh Choh project, followed by Peak Gold successfully permitting the project and completing construction of the mine.

Mining operations commenced in August of 2023 and ore hauling started in November 2023, leading to a sizeable stockpile of ore at Fort Knox ready to be processed through the mill.