Contango ORE, Inc. is pleased to announce the acceptance of the Johnson Tract Critical Metals Project as a “covered project” into the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council’s FAST-41 program (“FAST-41”) on December 1, 2025.
Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, the Company’s President & CEO said “Contango would like to thank the Permitting Council and the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) for including the Johnson Tract Critical Metals Project to the full coverage projects list in the FAST-41 program. We look forward to working closely with the USACE, cooperating State and Federal agencies, and CIRI and their stakeholders. We are committed to advancing the Johnson Tract Critical Metals Project through the permitting process with enhanced coordination, predictable timelines, improved public transparency, and accountability to ensure this project meets the highest standards of environmental stewardship and regulatory compliance. We appreciate the Council’s continued guidance and partnership, and we look forward to ongoing engagement as the Johnson Tract Critical Metals Project progresses under the FAST-41 covered projects framework.”
Background on FAST-41
FAST-41 is the name for Title 41, established in 2015, of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act passed under the Obama Administration, which aims to improve the federal permitting process for large infrastructure projects by increasing transparency, coordination, and accountability. It establishes a structured process and a public-facing Permitting Dashboard to track projects, coordinate among agencies, and set public timetables for environmental reviews and authorizations and is led and managed by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council). This helps ensure projects move forward efficiently and predictably. Furthermore, on August 27, 2025, the Permitting Council announced a first-of-its-kind agreement with the State of Alaska by way of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This MOU provides for federal permitting assistance through the FAST-41 program, as the State and Federal governments work together to identify projects for coverage in addition to providing the State of Alaska with a wide variety of support for increased transparency, coordination, and accountability.
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