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Shawn Khunkhun, President of Contango Silver & Gold | Rule Symposium 2026: Rick Rule interviews

Rule Investment Media May 20, 2026

Summary

Contango says it can reach 5 million ounces of silver and 200,000 of gold annually without dilution, funded by mine cash flow.

Direct shipping ore (DSO — high-grade rock sent straight to external processors, no mill built) keeps Contango's capital needs low across Alaska and British Columbia projects.

The producing Moncho mine delivered $122 million of free cash flow (cash left after operating costs) in 2025; partner Kinross receives 70 percent of output.

The guest cites a $615 million net present value (NPV — future cash flows discounted to today) at Johnson Track from a $37 million acquisition.

The guest argues Contango trades at 0.3 times NAV (net asset value — what its projects are worth per share) against 0.7 for comparable high-grade producers.

Key points on Kinross Gold

  • Khunkhun identifies Kinross as Contango's partner at the Alaska gold mine, with Kinross taking 70% of the 200,000 oz/year total production while Contango holds 30%.

Key points on Contango Ore Inc

  • Khunkhun presents Contango as a self-funded emerging mid-tier producer, targeting about 5 million oz/year of silver plus 200,000 oz/year of gold without going back to market.
  • Its Alaska open-pit gold mine produces 60,000 oz/year for Contango (30% of the 200,000 oz total with Kinross) and generated $122 million of free cash flow in 2025, with about $250 million expected next year (2027) on a conservative gold price.
  • A $50 million investment over two years is meant to restart the permitted, past-producing Lucky Shot mine by 2028, lifting production to about 100,000 oz/year with roughly $100 million of annual free cash flow.
  • The Johnson Tract project, acquired with HighGold, carries an economic study showing a $615 million NPV on about 1.1 million oz at roughly 10 g/t; Khunkhun cites about a 7-month payback and roughly 100,000 oz/year for at least a decade.
  • As of the May 2026 interview the market cap is roughly $700 million USD with about $100 million in cash and 33 million shares outstanding, and Khunkhun says the stock trades at about 0.3x NAV versus peers at 0.7x.

Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Rick Rule describes him as a friend of about thirty years who ran the company Dolly Varden was merged into, now known as Contango.
  • Khunkhun credits Rick's discipline on dilution, noting Contango is in production with a development pipeline on only 33 million shares outstanding.

Rick Rule's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Rule discloses he has been a shareholder of Shawn Khunkhun's company in both its current and prior incarnations.
  • He explains his symposium's vetting model: every public-company exhibitor must be owned in the sponsors' accounts, more exhibitors are turned down than accepted, and each is vetted personally by him.
  • His questioning presses on sum-of-the-parts value and dilution protection, and he flags the Alaska mine's life as fairly short at present even as it funds the rest of the plan.

Shawn Khunkhun's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Khunkhun's core thesis is that Contango's build-out — Lucky Shot by 2028, Johnson Tract, and Dolly Varden and Kitsil Valley toward 2030 — is fully sequenced and self-funded, so no return to market or share dilution is needed.
  • He argues the stock is mispriced at about 0.3x NAV versus peers at 0.7x as of the May 2026 interview, with the goal this year of re-rating toward the peer average.
  • He guides to about $250 million of free cash flow next year (2027) on a conservative gold price, up from $122 million in 2025.
  • He frames the strategy as direct shipping — 'putting rocks in a box' — favoring high-grade projects close to infrastructure with simple permitting instead of building processing facilities.
  • On his background: about two decades supporting geologists and mining engineers within Frank Giustra's Fiore Group, bringing capital and marketing to undervalued opportunities, transacting M&A and raising about $3 billion.

Frank Giustra's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Khunkhun names Frank Giustra's Fiore Group as the organization he works within, citing the many companies Giustra has launched in his career.