Item 8.01 Other Events. On December 8, 2025, Contango ORE, Inc. (“ Contango” or the “ Company”) announced that it had entered into an arrangement agreement (the “ Agreement”) to combine Contango and Dolly Varden Silver Corporation, a British Columbia corporation (“ Dolly Varden”), on a merger-of-equalsbasis (the “ Transaction”). Under the Agreement, the Company, indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary, will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Dolly Varden (the “ Dolly Varden Shares”) at an exchange ratio of 0.1652 of a share of voting common stock of the Company (the “ Contango Shares”) for each Dolly Varden Share by way of a statutory plan of arrangement (the “ Arrangement”) under the Business Corporations Act(British Columbia), pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Agreement. On January 9, 2026, in connection with the Transaction, the Company filed a preliminary proxy statement (the “ Preliminary Proxy Statement”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“ SEC”). The Preliminary Proxy Statement, which includes a proposal to effect the Transaction, is subject to completion. The Preliminary Proxy Statement is filed as an exhibit to this Current Report on Form 8-Kand is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits. (d) Exhibits. Exhibit Description of Exhibit No. 99.1 Preliminary Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A, filed with the SEC on January 9, 2026. ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).