Skip to main content

I interview the President of Contango Silver & Gold, Shawn Khunkhun.

Don Durrett Apr 10, 2026

Summary

Contango Silver & Gold targets growth from 60,000 ounces of gold a year to 200,000 ounces plus 5 million ounces of silver.

The president credits the direct shipping ore model, trucking to Kinross' Fort Knox mill, for reaching production in two and a half years.

A new mineral resource estimate for Kitsault Valley lands in June, backed by a 40,000-meter drill program targeting high-grade primary silver.

The host values the company at an eight-times multiple versus today's five times, calling the discount to peers unusually wide.

The channel discloses that Contango compensated the host for this interview, so viewers should weigh the praise accordingly.

Key points on Hecla Mining Company

  • Contango Silver & Gold bought roughly 60,000 hectares from Hecla in May 2025, a package that included the past-producing Esperanza silver mine on Tidewater.
  • He says that when he joined Dolly Varden six years ago his original goal was to hand the company to a large liquid silver producer such as Hecla or one of its peers, an ambition he now says has shifted toward building Contango into the next Hecla.

Key points on Kinross Gold

  • Contango's 30% interest in the Moncho mine is operated by Kinross, with about 200,000 ounces a year trucked to Kinross's Fort Knox mill under a direct-shipping-ore arrangement; Contango contributed roughly 60,000 attributable ounces in 2025.
  • He says Kinross's ownership and operation of Fort Knox removes operator risk, and that underutilized capacity there gives the permitted Lucky Shot mine somewhere to send ore if it restarts in 2028.
  • He argues Kinross has a strong incentive to keep feeding Moncho's roughly 8 g/t material because those campaigns are very significant to Fort Knox's bottom line, even though Contango with its 30% share gains less from extra drilling.

Key points on Contango Ore Inc

  • The guest says Contango Ore is one of two legacy companies merged into Contango Silver & Gold; the merger closed on March 26, 2026, and Contango Ore was delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange on March 27.
  • He notes that Contango Ore and Dolly Varden each started near a $20 million market cap and independently reached about C$750 million on January 29 before merging, and that Contango Ore brought the Lucky Shot project into the portfolio.

Don Durrett's takeaways

  • Top takeaway On camera he runs a valuation model and lands on roughly $370 to $475 per share for Contango in about five years, against a share price near $23 at the time of this April 10, 2026 interview.
  • He says Contango trades at about a five-times multiple, which he calls ridiculously cheap, and argues an eight-times multiple is defensible, with ten times if the growth lands, noting most peers trade at about half of what they should.
  • He names the main risk as insider ownership of only 10%, which he thinks leaves the company open to a strategic buyer circling its 65 million-plus ounces of silver.
  • His gold-only scenario, which assigns no value to the silver, still implies roughly $100 to $185 per share, so he treats the silver ounces as effectively free.
  • He says he bought the stock when the merger was announced because he prefers aggressive management, and rates the management team, jurisdiction and balance sheet as solid, with a five-year hold that could be a five-times move in three years if gold reaches $7,000.

Shawn Khunkhun's takeaways

  • Top takeaway He lays out a self-funded growth path from roughly 60,000 attributable gold ounces a year today, 42,000 in 2024 and 60,000 in 2025 with about 80,000 expected next year, to about 100,000 ounces with the Lucky Shot restart targeted for 2028, about 200,000 ounces once Johnson Track contributes, and 4 to 5 million ounces of silver a year from Kitsault Valley.
  • He says the Contango Ore and Dolly Varden merger closed on March 26, 2026 and that Contango Ore's TSX Venture delisting on March 27 helped drive a roughly 50% drawdown versus about 30% for peers; he expects the big-board TSX listing, starting the Monday after this April 10, 2026 interview, to reopen Canadian pension-fund demand and models about $50 million of index and ETF buying.
  • He flags near-term catalysts: a new Kitsault Valley mineral resource estimate in June that he expects to add materially to the current 65 million ounces of silver, a 40,000-metre drill program, and a goal to take Johnson Track from about 1 million ounces at nearly 10 g/t gold equivalent to a 3 million-ounce deposit.
  • He targets a debt-free and hedge-free company in 2026, holding $100 million cash against roughly $33 million of liabilities, being $13 million of debt and a $20 million convertible debenture priced at $30 and callable at $40, while spending about $50 million over two years on Lucky Shot inside a $67.5 million company budget.
  • He says only about 33 million shares are outstanding with insiders at 10% after his own recent C$660,000 purchase, 45% retail and 45% institutional and high-net-worth holders including Franklin Templeton, Sprott and Fidelity, and that he wants to be the acquirer rather than the target, preferring accretive tuck-ins such as owning a processing facility only after the January highs are retraced.